Through The Looking Glass
by Phoenix on cloud nine
Summary: When Tony is sent undercover to an asylum, how long will it be before he finds it hard to distinguish between reality and imagination? Will Gibbs sense the danger and pull him out in time?
1. Chapter 1

**I really shouldn't start this, I'll have a backlog for months... Ah well, it couldn't be helped ;) Hope you like it (It'll get more interesting, promise)  
Note: It'll have a case involved, but that's really not important :P**

Tony pushed his chair back slightly in order to prop his feet up on the desk. It had been a long day, and he was just waiting for the go ahead from Gibbs to go home - a place he hadn't been for about 2 days now. He had his toothbrush, deodorant and clean shirts, but it wasn't the same as his big, soft bed. He closed his eyes as he imagined how it would feel to finally fall onto it, his head hitting the silk cushions that were his pillows. Grinning happily as he ran through what he would do that evening, including getting a huge pizza with one of his favourite Magnum episodes, he failed to see Gibbs walk into the office.

"DiNozzo!" The man jumped up from his desk as quickly as you could say his name and looked over at his Boss,

"Yeah Boss?" Gibbs reviewed him with a critical eye as he heard how happy his agent sounded,

"You done your report?" Tony's eyes suddenly dulled. He knew he'd forgotten to do something, dammit! He started to pout as much as possible, before whining,

"Can't I do it tomorrow? I haven't been home in ages!" Gibbs wasn't sure what caused him to say it, but Tony's puppy-dog look softened some part of him and he rolled his eyes, growling,

"It had better be on my desk first thing tomorrow." Tony beamed and replied,

"I love you Boss!" Before running to the elevator, whooping loudly at the fact he had managed to get out of some work for a while.

Ziva gazed at the scene in outrage. Okay, she didn't really care that she still needed to give in her report tonight, as she'd been planning to do it anyway, but it hardly seemed fair that Tony got out of it,

"Gibbs, I really don't think it fair that both I and McGee have to stay here and finish our reports whilst Tony gets to go home, simply because he did the kitten-cat eyes."

"Puppy-dog, Ziva." McGee quietly corrected her, hoping he wasn't going to get dragged into an argument between Ziva and Gibbs - especially over Tony. McGee gave a small wince. He knew who would win.

"Agent DiNozzo," Gibbs started frostily, glaring at Ziva, "Is perfectly capable of finishing his paperwork when asked."

"McGee and myself..." Ziva began, before being cut off by the older man,

"Are junior agents in retrospect with DiNozzo. I gave him so leeway as he has more experience with what might happen if it doesn't get done."

"So are you saying we wouldn't be able to cope like Tony can?" Ziva asked, anger radiating from her body, almost spitting flames. Gibbs growled, but simply didn't answer and looked down at his own paperwork, almost head-slapping himself.

You should _never_ show favouritism between agents. _Never_.

--

"Good morning world." Tony grinned at both Ziva and McGee as he bounced into the bullpen, giving Abby a run for her money. Both looked up at him with stony looks on their faces. They had stayed late last night to finish their reports, and no doubt Tony would have stayed as long as them doing his if he hadn't asked to go home.

So neither replied to his cheerful greeting, which he frowned at, but went over to Gibbs's desk and laid several sheets of paper on it. At this, Ziva stopped the cold shoulder and asked, incredulous,

"When did you find time to do that?!" He winked at her, not telling her that he only wanted to go home so he could finish his work without being disturbed (And so he could lie on his luxury bed and do it),

"Work smarter, not harder Zee-Vah," He sing-songed, getting a slap on the head, "Thankyou Boss." Gibbs strode past him, nodding as he saw the report on his desk. Giving Tony a quick glance which meant, 'I'll go through it fully later' he reached for his phone as it started ringing. A few seconds later, he barked,

"Grab your gear!"

"What've we got Boss?" Tony asked, grinning happily as he reached for his bag,

"Dead marine, name of Lt. William King, found in his home in Norfolk. Gas the truck."

"On it Boss!" He yelled and grabbed the keys out of the air as Gibbs threw them. As Tony passed Ziva (Who was calling Ducky) he gave her a wink; which she replied to with a snarl.

--

"It's a real bad one Boss." Tony said to him, looking rather queasy as he stepped out of the house to grab the camera. Gibbs nodded and gave him a small pat on the back as he waited outside for Ducky. When Tony walked back in, he wasn't surprised to find that Ziva was the only one not an odd shade of green. McGee was continually putting a tissue to his face as if about to throw up in it, and was gingerly peering through various drawers in the house.

"My my Jethro, this is a nasty one." Ducky said from the doorway. Tony nodded from where he was stood with the camera, hands shaking slightly as he took pictures. He was used to all sorts. After being a cop, and then moving on to NCIS there wasn't a lot he hadn't seen. But this...

The body was lying on the floor, completely naked. It looked like he had been disemboweled; his guts and blood all over the place. His testicles had been removed and all of his toes and fingers brutally ripped off, lying next to them. They looked as though they had been put down to form some sort of message,

"What's it say DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, not being able to see from where he was stood,

"Doesn't look like it was finished Boss, so far it says 'Rose W'."

"Rose double-yew? Sounds like someone's name." Ziva said, from where she was stood by the body,

"No, 'Rose_wuh_'," Tony explained, "As in, it could go on to say the name of a place or something, like 'Rosewell'." Ziva nodded and started to pick through his drawers, sheafing through various leaflets and official looking pieces of paper.

"Ducky, he ok to be moved?" The ME nodded, but looked off. Crouching down, Gibbs said, "You ok?"

"I hope you find whoever did this quickly Jethro." Ducky muttered, sounding dark.

"Why?" Tony asked, glancing away from the pictures long enough to look at Ducky's face,

"Because from what I can tell here," He said, "His extremities were ripped off. By hand."

--

"Maybe a county?" Ziva offered, from where they had been brain storming 'Rosew'. McGee shook his head,

"There aren't any that I know of beginning with 'Rose'." Tony typed at his keyboard for a few seconds before saying,

"It could be some kind of hotel."

"What makes you say that DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, from where he'd been sat at his desk, adding his input every so often but wanting to know what his team came up with.

"I er... I googled it Boss." Gibbs raised his eyebrows and said,

"You mean you just typed in our only piece of evidence into the Internet, hoping you'll get a match near here?"

"Erm...."

"Good work," Gibbs praised, leading Tony to look shell-shocked, "Using your initiative." Tony grinned at Ziva and McGee who rolled their eyes at him.

"Put it up on the plasma." Gibbs told him, standing up from his chair. Tony quickly grabbed the remote for it and pressed a button. Instantly, a picture of a large, Victorian looking house appeared, with a huge garden by the side of it.

"Why is everyone wearing white gowns?" Tony wondered out loud, leaning closer to it, as if that would explain why.

"Because Tony," McGee said in a patronizing voice, "It isn't a hotel."

"It's not?" Tony replied, and felt himself dragged back by his shoulders,

"'Rosewood Institute: A delightful range of various physicians, psychologists and councillors make this the ideal place to take your loved ones for a rest...'" Gibbs quoted from the screen, "It's a mental asylum genius."

"Oh, a funny farm," Tony chuckled, before getting his expected slap, "Shutting up Boss..."

"You know, this fits," McGee said, drawing all attention to him, "According to this file, Lt. King spent about 5 months there for depression before being honourably discharged two weeks ago."

"Why didn't we hear about this sooner McGee?" Gibbs snarled, causing McGee to go quite pale and stutter out,

"Sorry Boss... won't... won't happen again."

"Maybe whoever did it knew him from Rosewood?" Ziva questioned, intervening. She looked over at Gibbs for affirmation. He shrugged and said,

"It's a possibility. DiNozzo, take David and go interview some of the nurses, inmates..." He paused, seeing the look on Tony's face, "Something in my tone of voice make that seem like a suggestion?"

"Well, no Boss... but I don't think any of the nuts..." Gibbs glared at him, "Any of the _inmates_ would talk to us. I mean, maybe if we sent in someone non threatening, or asked the nurses to talk to them..."

"Are you suggesting putting in a woman Tony?" Ziva asked him, her voice low,

"Well they are non threatening... I mean..." He hastily amended, as Ziva glared at him, obviously about to say, 'And do you think _I'm _non-threatening Tony?', "Maybe just get someone in there undercover. Like, being an inmate. They'll talk to them." He glanced up at his Boss for approval, who was looking stern.

Gibbs didn't think it was a good idea to put any of his people into an asylum undercover. Even though he knew all of them were up to it. Ziva could definitely survive there, but would she be able to act the part of a crazy person? Tony was more than capable of acting crazy, and he could probably get the inmates to talk; but Gibbs wondered whether he'd be able to last there so long. And McGee - even though he wasn't the Probie anymore, and Gibbs was sure he'd be just as capable as Ziva and Tony, something inside him told him that it wasn't a good idea. So now he just had to choose between his other two agents.

"I think you should go Probie, you fit the look of a crazy person." Tony told McGee, grinning as McGee glared back at him.

"Why, I thought you would volunteer for this Tony," Ziva said, acting surprised, "You could easily act crazy - it wouldn't take much effort." Tony stuck his tongue out before asking,

"So who's going to go Boss?" Gibbs glanced up at his waiting agents. Tony was bouncing about, looking nervous and excited. Ziva was stood there silently, looking much too calm. And McGee looked rather nervous too, but without Tony's enthusiasm.

"DiNozzo, you go. Go down to Abby for a full background."

"Yes!" He yelled, bunched his hand into a fist and punching the air. McGee simply looked like he was glad it wasn't him, whereas Ziva said to Gibbs,

"Is there a reason you chose him?"

"'Cause he can pull off crazy." Was all he replied with, but kept staring at the elevator Tony had entered. Something in his gut was screaming at him that this wasn't right.

**What d'you think? Should I continue? Review and tell me :) xxx Also anything that Tony says about 'funny farms' etc that might offend someone - none of those thoughts are my own :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Eeep, sorry about the wait :S Thanks for all the reviews and words of encouragement :D I just want to say I was listening to Greenday's 'Basket Case' while writing this lol, so I found that pretty apt ;)**

"How about something really cool, like... Harley Arkham." Tony offered to Abby, who was typing it all up on the computer. She snorted and said to him,

"I never had you pegged as a kind of 'Batman' guy Tony."

"Are you kidding? Michelle Pfeiffer in a catsuit..." He zoned out for a while before getting a slap on the head, "Thank you Boss." He said meekly as he saw Gibbs walk around him and glance down at the screen,

"How's it going Abbs?" She smiled up at him and took hold of the Caf-Pow he offered. Slurping it, she replied,

"Ok. I wasn't sure what kind of a crazy Tony would be, so I waited for you to come down before I made a psychologist's report." Tony grinned, feeling like he was in a movie. It was like getting that first script and seeing what your character was like, and how you could mould them yourself when the writers were done. He got the same feeling every time he went undercover, and it still never properly went away.

Gibbs nodded and answered, "Schizophrenic."

"Bi-polar." Abby nodded as well, typing these into the computer,

"Insomniac." Gibbs chipped in,

"Dissociative Identity Disorder," Abby said, and explained to the confused looks, "Split personality. Like Jekyll and Hyde."

Tony rolled his eyes, "Do I really have _that _much wrong with me?"

"Maybe one of them is the worst. And all the others are just mild. Which one would you like?" Abby asked him, thoroughly enjoying herself. Tony thought for a second and answered,

"Schitzo. That'll be fun." Abby snorted and nodded.

"We just need a name." They both looked over to Gibbs for ideas, and he answered,

"To get him in, we're going to need to say he's my son, so just change his last name."

He wandered round to look at the computer nodding, before frowning and pointing to the name box, "Why 'Harley Arkham'?" Abby blushed slightly,

"I was going to get rid of that, it was just a demo really."

"See Harley Quinn is this crazy chick in Batman who used to be the Joker's shrink, but she went kinda crazy in love with him and became his side-kick. And Arkham's the mental asylum this all happens in... You don't care do you?" Gibbs shook his head, before Tony asked, "Why do we need to say I'm your son Boss? I mean - no offence, but you're a bit too old..." He paused, seeing Gibbs's face, "I mean, you're too young to be my father..." He glanced down, biting his lip anxiously, waiting for the inevitable head slap. It came, but with a lot less force than normal. Tony glanced up again to see Abby smirking before a beeping came from the printer,

"You're all set. Go get Ducky to sign it, so if they search for the name of the doctor then it'll come back okay." Gibbs nodded and kissed her on the cheek as a sign of thanks before leaving the lab, not saying anything but giving the impression that Tony should follow. The younger man did, pulling a face at Abby before leaving,

"How twitchy should I be when I'm in there?" He asked her, only half-joking. She simply grinned and stuck two thumbs up at him.

~*~

He caught up to Gibbs just as the elevator doors were closing. Standing in there, he asked,

"So why _do _we need to say that I'm your son Boss?"

"If we say you're undercover it'll get out, and they won't accept suspects." Tony nodded, bouncing around slightly, not exactly nervous, but with too much energy. Gibbs shook his head fondly,

"You won't even have to _pretend _to be twitchy if you stay like this." Tony stuck his tongue out, but kept staring at the metal doors of the elevator, his face that of rapt contemplation.

"You ok?" Gibbs asked him softly, seeing his face. Tony nodded; then paused, knowing Gibbs would know if he lied to him. He shook his head, and then paused again. He finally settled for a shrug, and said,

"I really want to do this; I think I'll be able to find whoever did it. You know how much I love going undercover. I just… I just think that – when I'm in there… it'll be…"

"Hard? Odd? _Scary_?" Gibbs offered, studying his agent's face carefully. Tony nodded, biting his lip. Gibbs patted him on the back, at which he felt Tony stand a bit straighter. He grinned to himself, knowing that whenever Tony needed some encouragement, all he had to do was give him so physical affection.

"Why can't we tell them I'm undercover again?" He asked, thinking it would be easier on him if they didn't try and hit him with the hose or something,

"Even if we told just the nursing staff, secrets can get out Tony," Gibbs replied, "And if it did, none of the patients would trust you."

The rest of the way down to Autopsy they were silent, Tony thinking hard about how he would portray his alter-ego. He was thinking maybe being twitchy and muttering to himself a lot. Then for all of his other things – well they wouldn't get him tested if they already had a certificate by an actual doctor would they?

"Ahh Jethro, what brings you down here?" Tony shook his head slightly, not having realised he'd followed Gibbs out of the elevator and into autopsy. Gibbs gently propelled him over there and answered,

"Hey Ducky. We're putting Tony undercover in that asylum I told you about. Abby said you need to sign these papers we made, or they won't admit him." Ducky stared at them,

"This is a new one Jethro, do you know what any of these illnesses are?" He asked, glancing down the sheet Abby had printed out, "My my Anthony, you've really got quite a Psychologist's office in here." Tony nodded morosely, still on the fence of either being really scared, or really excited.

"Think you can sign these papers for us Duck?" Gibbs asked, watching Tony out of the corner of his eye, who was anxiously biting his nails and possibly practising his 'twitching'. He was doing a good job too, Gibbs thought, he looked like a professional crazy. His eyes were darting everywhere and he was mumbling to himself softly, every so often giving a small nervous titter. Just to clarify however, Gibbs said,

"Please tell me you're practising DiNozzo, I don't want to stick you in there for real." Tony blushed and nodded, before replying,

"I guess that means I was doing a good job." He grinned dizzily at Gibbs who rolled his eyes before looking over at Ducky.

"Are you likely to be considered dangerous Anthony?" He asked, pausing in his signing. Tony frowned,

"I dunno," He answered, "D'you think I seem it?" Gibbs chuckled before Ducky answered,

"I'm not sure, but don't you think that whoever did this must have been seriously deranged and unstable? You would get further being in the dangerous ward."

"But Lt King was only in there for depression," Tony pointed out, "He wouldn't have even met anyone dangerous, they're not mixed."

"Maybe he did it himself," Ducky mused thoughtfully, "Someone he knew from Rosewood so he arranged his extremities into a message..." Tony looked disgusted,

"He was probably dead by the time they were taken off Duck, I doubt he'd have been able to do it."

"Oh he was alive," Ducky said gravely, "Those toes were covered in blood." Tony frowned

"But if it _was _someone from Rosewood they wouldn't have been out so they won't actually be at the asylum now."

"Are you trying to get out of this DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked, a hint of amusement in his voice,

"No Boss, but I just don't think we've thought this through..." He was cut off as McGee came in, clutching a list,

"Boss," He breathed heavily, as if he'd had to take the stairs, quickly, "I went through the patients like you said, and one was signed out for the day by a friend and signed back in an hour after the Lieutenant's time of death - and he shared a room with Lt King as well." He allowed them to digest this information, before saying, "His name is Jack Rickman and like Lt King he was apparently suffering from depression. The files also say he was an extreme manic, which explains why he'd leave a message with King's... parts."

"That's good work McGee," Gibbs said, allowing him a small smile, "Find the friend that signed Rickman out," He ordered.,"We'll try and get you in at least the same ward as Rickman, DiNozzo." He told Tony, causing him to nod, but ask,

"If he's capable of ripping a guy's... fingers off, don't you think we should tell them to move him to a secure ward?"

"Scared much Tony?" McGee smirked, causing Tony to smile sarcastically at him and say,

"You know McGee, I'm sure we can add one more mental illness to my sheet..." He tailed off, licking his lips and leering at McGee as though he wanted to eat him. The younger agent - although knowing there wasn't a serious threat - still shuffled away from him slightly. Gibbs rolled his eyes and said,

"Pack your bags Tony."

"On it Boss!"

~*~

They slowly drove up the winding drive way to the huge, Victorian house. It looked pleasant enough from the outside, but Tony could only wonder nervously what it was like on the inside,

"You okay?" Gibbs asked, looking at him. The younger agent just nodded, staring out the window to the gardens. There were a few patients already out there, walking slowly round it, their white robes the only indication there was something wrong with them. That and the fact that they all had nurses accompanying them. Smirking, he got a small head slap,

"What was that for?" He whined, rubbing his abused head,

"I forbid you to flirt with any of the staff _or _patients DiNozzo." He said, his eyes twinkling. Tony shook his head, smiling. They stopped and Tony waited for Gibbs to come round his door to open it for him,

"Lazy." He muttered, causing Tony to grin, but soon moulded his expression to fit apprehension as he looked up at the house. A large, strict looking nurse came out to greet them,

"Hello, my name's Nurse Blackmore - I'm the Head Nurse of the ward your son will be staying on," She directed this all at Gibbs, not once paying Tony any attention. He still valiantly acted though, forever mumbling about nothing to himself - actually getting into it describing last night's movie to himself before she turned to him as Gibbs got his suitcase out the car,

"My name is Nurse Blackmore. You can either call me that or Heather. Understood?" Tony looked at her with wide eyes and nodded, "I assume your name is Anthony?"

"Thomas." He corrected her, trying with all his might to keep the smirk off his face as she raised an eyebrow. Gibbs stepped in, guessing what he was doing,

"He sometimes does this, apparently his _friend _Thomas likes to have a opinion as well." He looked at Tony and sighed forlornly, as if for all the world he was upset that someone of his own blood had a problem. The Nurse just nodded and took it in her stride,

"You have a meeting with the Doctor just now - did you bring your papers?" Gibbs nodded and bit his lip to stop himself laughing as Tony was firmly pulled inside by his arm, a confused expression on his face,

"You know, Tony likes to have a room with a view," He commented, "But I prefer the seat on a the aisle, if you get my meaning..." Gibbs snorted, though thankfully the nurse was too far away to hear him. He should have just given Tony some pain killers before this, he wouldn't even have needed to act. The Nurse shook her head and knocked on a door. A soft 'Come in' came from inside, and Nurse Blackmore opened the door,

"This is the new patient Doctor, an Anthony Gibbs - his father has his sheets." The doctor nodded and smiled at both Gibbs and Tony,

"Please, take a seat," Gibbs did so, leaving Tony to wander over to the bookcase and run his fingers over the spines of all the books, "Hi, I'm Doctor Matthews, you can feel free to call me Claire - we're informal here." Tony turned to her, his eyes darkening, that sentence taking him back to a blue room, a tight chest, 15 percent...

"I'm Jethro Gibbs, this is Tony." Gibbs said, motioning over to the man now counting the amount of books on her shelf.

"Hi there Tony, I'm Claire. Would you mind come here and helping me check some boxes?" He hesitantly turned and walked slowly over to sit on the chair next to Gibbs. Staring at her with his green eyes, he said softly,

"Thomas doesn't really like the look of you." She nodded, never taking her gaze away from him,

"Who's Thomas, Tony?"

"Friend." He muttered, glancing over his shoulder,

"Why doesn't he like the look of me?"

"'Cause you've got 73 books on your shelf. He doesn't like odd numbers."

"Did you count them or did he?"

"I did."

"You can count quickly," She praised him, before asking, "Do you like odd numbers?"

"Yes. I don't like even ones." She smiled at him,

"Well you'll be happy to know that the room you'll be staying in has 3 beds in it."

"Thomas won't be happy." He told her, ignoring the amused smirk Gibbs was sending him at this Oscar winning material

"Yes he will, there'll only be two of you in there. Jack's a nice boy, he's been rather lonely though, his friend had to leave, so maybe you could be some company?" Tony narrowed his eyes,

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." He told her, glancing over to Gibbs ever so slightly. She nodded,

"We have plenty of activites to keep you, Jack and Thomas from being dull Tony, I assure you. Can I have his papers?" She asked Gibbs, who had decided to keep one hand firmly on Tony's shoulder,

"It's not that he's dangerous," He told her as he passed them over, "It's just that he likes to know someone else is here." Tony nodded in agreement,

"Is there anyone dangerous here?" Tony asked Claire, ruffling his hair in a frustrated fashion,

"We have the occasional scuffle," She answered him, "But everyone gets along just fine. If you're not happy, I'm sure the nurses will help you. And if you play by the rules and be nice, you won't be punished."

"Punished?" Gibbs asked, "I don't remember that being on the website."

"It's not really _punishment_, Mr Gibbs it's just we have the necessary restraints and sedation in case things get out of hand." Gibbs nodded and said,

"Can we see Tony's room now?" She nodded, before saying as they were standing up,

"Visitors are required to sign in, just so you know. There are certain times you can't come - the nurse will tell you. Unfortunately, now is one of those times. The other patients will get uneasy if Tony has a visitor when they don't. You can come to see him later today." Gibbs nodded, accepting her conditions,

"Bye Son," He said, patting him on the back, "I'll see you later today." Tony threw his arms around the older man's neck and whispered,

"If Jack says anything about King, I'll let you know." Gibbs patted him on the back again and pulled himself away from the hug. He exited the door, unease flowing through him as he heard the doctor telling him they were going to get him into his robes now.

**Tadaa :) I'll probably try and finish this one before my other story just so you know ;) And I don't know whether I got his crazy behaviour right, I just babbled a bit lol. I hope you all got his little magnum reference ;) Review? xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Cheers for all the reviews :) What would I do without you lovely people?**

Tony followed Claire down a few corridors; glancing round anxiously threw a few doors that had windows in them. From what he could see, most of the rooms had large windows (Which wouldn't open) and three beds in each room, with plain coloured sheets. He frowned at the plainness of it all, but guessed they didn't want anything too dramatic to upset the patients.

"Here we go Tony, I hope you'll be comfy." He nodded at her and walked in, sensing her lingering at the door in case he and Jack didn't get along. Rickman was stood facing the window, looking out over the grounds solemnly and didn't turn around until Claire said softly,

"Jack, I've got a new roommate for you. This is Tony." With that she gently nudged the agent forward, and watched silently as Tony slowly approached the other man,

"Hi Jack," He said, the nervousness in his voice not put on, "I'm Tony. But sometimes Thomas is here as well." He added, remembering his 'symptoms'. Jack nodded and answered,

"I used to have a roommate you know. He was a marine. Was always very tidy. But he was depressed. Really depressed." Tony nodded and went to sit down on a bed that had light blue covers on it. He placed his suitcase under it, not in the mood for unpacking. It was something about this place that suddenly made him so sombre.

"Well, I'll leave you to get acquainted. If you need anything Tony, you can go and ask Heather, the head nurse for this ward. You'll have another session with me after visiting hour's over, which leaves a good three hours to fill in. Okay? Have fun." With that she left, and closed the door quietly as Tony sat on his bed, knowing Jack was staring at him. Uncomfortably, he fidgeted for a while, but with the patient's never wavering stare, he jumped up, remembering what he had to do,

"So Jack, tell me about this last roomie of yours." Jack stared at him for a while but answered,

"His name was William, but everyone called him Bill." Tony waited for a while, before prodding,

"Uh-huh… and?"

"He was really tidy. And really depressed."

"Do you know why he was depressed?" Tony asked,

Jack shook his head, "'M'not allowed to tell anyone. He'll hurt me if I do."

"But he's not here now…" Tony leant forward conspiratorially. Jack shook his head again,

"He'll still know. He always knows…" Tony gave up, for now, and lay down on his bed, staring at the dull ceiling. He must have been literally mad to have agreed to do this. Maybe it would have been easier to just interview everyone. He would never admit it to anyone, but he didn't like it here. He would even go so far as to say it scared him to be here. He just knew that something wasn't quite right, and when he glanced over to Jack, who was once again staring out the windows, he was sure he would soon be proved right.

~*~

"So have you found anything out yet?" Gibbs asked, as they strolled along the grounds. Tony was in the white gown and had donned a white robe on top of that as it was quite cold. His feet however, were bare,

"Not much yet, all I know is Lt King, or Bill as he was known here, was really anal and depressed. Oh yeah, and I think he used to threaten Jack - he said that he wasn't allowed to tell anyone otherwise Bill would hurt him." Gibbs nodded but said,

"Is that all you got? C'mon DiNozzo, I don't want you staying here any longer than necessary! If you've already been here a day and can only dredge up that small amount of information, how do you expect us to solve this thing?"

"He's barely saying anything Boss, mostly he just stares out the window. And whenever I do ask him stuff he just says the same thing over and over, that he'll be hurt if he says anything." Gibbs raised an eyebrow but checked his watch,

"Come on," He said, "Your appointment is soon." Tony sighed and stuck his hand in his pockets,

"I hate having to act crazy all the time," He muttered, "It's so much effort."

"I wouldn't have thought it would be too big a stretch for you DiNozzo." Gibbs said, in an attempt to get some friendly banter flowing. Tony didn't rise to it however, and just stared into space as they made their way to the doctor's study.

"So Tony," Claire began, smiling at him, "How are you liking it here?" Tony gave a small shrug,

"'S'alright," He muttered, "Jack's a bit of a dull boy." She nodded and wrote something down,

"Have you tried any of the activities we have on offer Tony? I think you'd enjoy them." Tony had half a mind to tell her to stop being so patronizing, but looked down at his hands and shook his head, unwilling to talk to either the doctor or Gibbs. He knew he was being childish, but he didn't care. It was Gibbs's fault for sticking him in here.

Eventually, Claire gave up and let Gibbs walk back to the room with his agent. Tony went and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling as Jack looked out the window. Gibbs rolled his eyes and left, knowing that Tony would get something eventually, he just had to trust him.

"You ever been stuck in somewhere you really don't want to be Jack?" Tony asked bleakly - with no one else to talk to he had to settle for the potential murderer he was sharing a room with. Jack looked up from his musing, a little put off by the question. He looked interested however, and answered,

"All the time. But I can escape whenever I want."

"Oh yeah?" Tony asked, "How?" Jack grinned,

"How many secrets can you keep?"

"Well I can keep quite a few, and Thomas can keep about a dozen, so I think anything you tell us is safe." He'd been talking about 'Thomas' so much with different people he was starting to seem real to Tony, and he'd only been here a day. What if it took longer than that to get the information? What if it took more than a week? He was even now tempted to add his 'friend' in any conversation he had, and had fought to keep him coming up when he had been talking to Gibbs.

Jack had nodded at Tony's promise, and said,

"I have this friend who can sign me out of here. She can do it so no one notices I'm gone. So I can be here… but I _can't _be here. Savvy?" Tony cocked an eyebrow but nodded, rather uncertainly but he still nodded,

"Where did you go last time you got out?" He asked, sitting up on the bed and taking the gown off so he was just wearing the white top and bottoms. Jack tapped his nose, but said,

"I can sometimes get out when we're not allowed out too. When we all have to stay inside. I can get out." Tony nodded, his eyes wide,

"Can I come next time?" He asked, wondering if Jack and his friend would go somewhere linked to Lt King's murder, "Maybe the same place you went last time? I'd like to see what you do in your free time." _Besides stare out of windows,_ He thought to himself. Jack beamed,

"I'd like that," He answered, causing Tony to breathe out deeply, "My friend wouldn't, but I'll tell her it'll be fun. And I'll see if we can go to the same place as last time. We had fun. But she made me clean when we got back, so no one could tell I'd been out."

"She made you clean?" Tony asked, lost at first - imagining Jack on his hands and knees scrubbing out bedpans before he got it, "Oh! She made you have a shower?" Jack nodded, and almost clapped his hands in delight.

Suddenly, their light dimmed, which made Tony glance up at the ceiling.

"What's happening?"

"They do this. Every night. All the lights go off. So they can't see us leave." Even in the dark Tony saw the grin, so he just nodded again and got into bed, sliding under the crisp sheets. They were hardly very comfortable, and were freezing, so Tony went to put his gown back on.

"Are you leaving?" He heard Jack say from under his own bed covers,

"Nah, would I leave you Jack? I'm just getting my gown on, aren't you cold?"

"Don't need to know. Don't care. What are you doing?" He suddenly asked, his voice sharp. He'd seen Tony fishing around in his clothing, trying to find his phone. He'd left it one of his pants pockets and now was desperately trying to find it. He thought he'd call Abby, he didn't want to spend the whole night talking to this clearly insane man.

Finding it, he slipped the phone into his gown pocket and turned to Jack, smiling,

"Nothing, just thought I'd lost something. Night." He lay down on the bed and turned so that he was facing the wall and his back was facing Jack. He lay still for a few minutes, and was amazed at the speed of which Jack fell asleep. It seemed like only five minutes before his breathing evened out and he started to snore slightly. Wincing at the time it said on his phone clock he hesitated before calling, but eventually pressed a few buttons and heard the dialling tone,

"_Hello?" _Tony breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard Abby's voice,

"Hey Abbs!" He whispered, trying to sound more upbeat than he felt, "What's shaking?"

"_Tony! How are you? How's the asylum?"_ Tony shrugged, even though she wouldn't be able to see it,

"It's okay I guess. I just needed to talk to someone."

"_Well… Gibbs is really angry right now, so I'll let you talk to him."_

"What?" He yelped, wincing as he heard Jack move, "Why didn't you say he was there?" He whispered,

"_I didn't know you didn't want to talk to him!"_ She argued,

"Abbs he can here you saying that!"

"_You're on loudspeaker genius."_ He winced as he heard his Boss's voice come out of the phone,

"Hey Boss," He whispered weakly, "How's tricks?"

"_What the hell DiNozzo? If anyone sees or hears you talking to us you could be compromised!"_

"You worry too much Boss. I'm fine, they've locked the doors, turned off the lights and Jacky-boy's asleep. Here's something interesting though - he's thinking about letting me go out when he and his 'friend' next go…" He was stopped by an enormous force to his head,

"_DiNozzo!" _Gibbs's voice sounded down the line, _"Tony! Can you hear me? Tony!"_ Both Abby and Gibbs yelled, but they didn't get an answer. Instead, they were disconnected as Jack took the phone in his hands and closed it, putting it in his pocket and pressing the panic button by the bed, letting Tony slip down to the floor - unconscious.

~*~

It wasn't long before two nurses rushed in and saw him. Looking over to Jack, one of them asked,

"What happened?"

"He went crazy and tried to kill me. I managed to get that chair and hit it over his head." He told them, pointing to a chair that did indeed have a shattered leg. The two nurses glanced at each other uneasily and called the head nurse, Heather,

"What's happened here?" She demanded looking from Tony, to Jack and then to the nurses,

"Mr Rickman claims to have been attacked by the new patient Nurse Blackmore," One of them explained, "He hit him over the head to make him stop." Heather gave a small, smug smile to Jack and clicked her fingers,

"Take Mr Gibbs and put him in the restraint room. No need to put the jacket on him, just give him a mild sedative when he wakes up."

"W-what about Mr Rickman Ma'am?" One of them asked nervously. She had only been working there two months, and was sure this wasn't how this should deal with fights,

"Leave him; he deserves a night's sleep. Inform Anthony's father about this in the morning, but make sure to stress it was Anthony's doing, Jack's not the cause."

"Why?" The girl queried as they got a porter to gently pull Tony out of the room,

"Because he might try and sue us for putting him in a room with a dangerous man or try and get Jack moved to a maximum security hospital - and we don't want that for an innocent man, do we?" Both nurses shook their heads, scared of their boss. They left soon after, and took it in turns to watch for Tony to wake up, before going in and injecting him with a sedative.

**I know it's kinda short, but it's where I wanted to leave it :P Hopefully, I'll get more updates soon :) Review? xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, two updates in one day :D I'm on fire! :P As always, thank you for the reviews :D Have a chapter :)**

Tony mumbled something unintelligible as he shuffled from his position on the floor, groggily lifting his head to survey where he was. He flinched as he touched a tender bit on his head, trying to recall what happened last night. He groaned when he realised Gibbs was going to kill him. Jack had probably heard him talking, and would now be suspicious of anything he would say that might get Rickman to talk.

"You're awake?" He glanced up drowsily, realising he was lying on the floor in a large padded room. He groaned and flopped his head back on the floor, tired and aching,

"Nurse Blackmore, he's awake, but I don't think he's very sure what's happening." Tony felt the shadow of the large nurse hover over him, and he was close to opening his eyes again to look at her - but instead stayed where he was. This however, unimpressed the nurse as he heard her snort and say,

"It's only a few hours until visiting time, give him another sedative." Tony's eyes opened and he struggled to get up,

"Wha'? Sedative… I don't… I'm not… I…" He tried to scramble to his feet but the gown he was in was slightly larger than he was, causing him to continuously slip on the trouser leg. He also hadn't quite recovered from the blow to his head and the previous sedation, so it was hard for him to navigate exactly where he was going.

He saw the nurse get a needle out and panicked, managing to get to his feet in his worry. He'd hated needles ever since the plague, and wasn't ready to have one jabbed in him right now - at his most vulnerable. He felt a nurse try to hold him down, but he pushed her away, cowering in a corner. Suddenly, he felt a large hand on his shoulder, and glanced up to meet the owner's eyes,

"Play the game Anthony," She hissed menacingly, "We can't have you upsetting other patients and then trying to attack staff."

"But I wasn't trying to…"

"You all saw him assault Nurse Wilson, didn't you?" She interrupted him, rallying her nurses who were too scared of her to argue. Nodding demurely all the other nurses stood by as she held the struggling man in one hand and injected the sedative into his arm, waiting for his eyes to roll up and film over, and his body to go limp, and fall into a deep sleep.

"Now," She said, standing up and straightening out her cap, "We'll wait a half hour before visiting hour and put him in his room, so his Dad doesn't think he's been mistreated. The parents are always the ones who think these trouble patients can do nothing wrong."

~*~

However, this 'troubled patient's parent arrived two hours before visiting time. After the call last night, Gibbs had been ready to charge in there and kill however had been involved in Tony's untimely silence. However, Abby had argued,

"Gibbs, if he has just been attacked by Rickman, it won't be long before the nurses will go in and help him. They have CCTV in every room." Gibbs had growled but had waited until morning before speeding off in his car, Abby in the seat next to him holding on for dear life. She had wanted to see how Tony was, not trusting what Gibbs had said when he got back form visiting yesterday - and was now more worried than ever after the phone call last night.

When they arrived, Gibbs made sure he could reach his gun and that Abby was safely behind him as he stormed through the building,

"Mr Gibbs, what are you doing here? You know the rules, visiting hours are…" Claire's eyes widened when she saw the flash of a gun underneath his jacket,

"Where's Tony?" He snarled at her, ignoring her glances toward his hip,

"He…I - what?"

"Where's Tony?" He asked, more forcefully than before, feeling Abby clutch at the back of his jacket in earnest. Claire shook her head and seemed to regain some professional composure,

"Well I assume he's in his room, I haven't seen anyone from his ward yet. What's this about?"

"Are you telling me you haven't been watching the CCTV?" Abby asked furiously, bursting out from behind Gibbs, "He could be in a coma for all you know!"

"Calm down Miss, I've only just arrived. What happened?" Abby bit her lip and glanced over to Gibbs. The agent sighed and said,

"I got a phone call from Tony last night. He was about to say something when the line went dead. It sounded like he'd been hit over the head." Claire shook her own head,

"If that's true the nurses will have seen and will have taken all the necessary precautions. It will have been entered into our accident book if something had happened." She led them over to the reception and dug out a book from underneath a stack of papers. Flicking through, she frowned when she saw what had been written in there,

"Nurse Blackmore and two other nurses went in when the panic button was pressed to find him on the floor. He tried to attack his roommate and got hit over the head for it." Gibbs shook his head,

"That's not Tony. He would _not_ just randomly attack someone."

"Mr Gibbs I understand how you feel, but…"

"No, you don't understand. Do you have any proof this happened? Or are you just taking the word of the lunatic in the room with him?"

"Sir please, keep your voice down!" They all turned to see Nurse Blackmore approach them, a stern look on her face, "You're upsetting the patients."

"Where's Tony?" He asked, for the third time that day, Abby hiding behind him nervously,

"Your son had to be contained for his as well as Mr Rickman's safety," She told him smoothly, "He attacked Mr Rickman and was knocked out by him. We've kept him in the restraint room for his own protection."

"How do you know?" Abby asked, her voice angry, "Who said that Tony attacked the other patient?"

"Jack told us, and he isn't prone to lying." She replied, her voice suggesting they shouldn't mess with her. Gibbs gave a harsh laugh,

"So you haven't even checked CCTV? Tony isn't prone to lying either - he knows he would never get away with it. I want to see him." He said; his voice low and dangerous. Abby saw the nurse's smile flicker for a second before her face settled again,

"Maybe when he's calmed down…"

"Heather, I'd like you to escort Mr Gibbs to see his son please." Claire ordered her, and the nurse had no choice but to nod, and walked towards the restraint room, a nervous look in her eyes.

Shooing the two nurses sat at the desk outside the room, Nurse Blackmore hesitantly looked in through the window on the door,

"You should come back later Mr Gibbs," She said, "He won't be coming round for a few hours."

"And just exactly _what _do you mean by that Nurse?" Gibbs snarled, causing even Abby to back away slowly. The nurse stared right back at him, determined not to show him how much he intimidated her,

"When he came round from being hit, we had to sedate him - he was getting angry. Then when he came round from the first sedation we had to do it again, he attacked one of my nurses." Gibbs shook his head in disgust,

"You drugged him - _twice_ - after he'd been knocked out, not caring about possible concussion, and without my permission?"

"You signed the forms when he was admitted," She replied, a cold tone to her voice, "You stated that we were allowed to restrain him in anyway we saw fit." Gibbs just shook his head again and strolled into the room, not listening to the nurse's protest. Abby scuttled in after him and quietly shut the door, not wanting Nurse Blackmore to say anything more.

She watched as her boss knelt down next to the small bundle of white in the corner. Tony had curled up into the foetal position when they'd administered the second round of sedatives, and mumbled slightly when Gibbs shook his shoulder slowly,

"Tony…" He whispered, seeing if he could get any sort of reaction from his drugged agent, "DiNozzo…" Tony's eyes fluttered open for a while, before they closed, his mouth open slightly as he looked like he was asleep,

"Abbs," He said quietly, "Phone McGee and Ziva. Tell them to check the CCTV for this place, I don't trust that nurse." She nodded but turned back on her way out,

"What about you?"

Gibbs grinned grimly, "I'll wait here for stony to wake up." Abby nodded and gave him a quick hug before going out, worrying even more about her friend than she had last night.

~*~

Tony's hand twitched as he slowly came to, wondering (Again) where he was. He opened his eyes slowly in case any more needles were near him, and visibly relaxed when he saw none. He still didn't uncurl from the little ball he tucked himself into, but opened his eyes wider when he saw a familiar figure sat next to him,

"B-B…Boss?" Gibbs jumped slightly from his cross-legged position on the floor but bent down, staring at his agent's face,

"Tony, you okay?" Tony grimaced but managed to sit up, grabbing onto Gibbs when the whole room spun, "Remember anything?" Gibbs asked softly, noticing the pale colour the younger man's face was. Tony scrunched up his face,

"Yeah," He replied quietly, "They stuck needles in me. I tried to… tried to stop them but she held me down and did it anyway. You know I don't like needles Boss." He finished pathetically, smiling slightly when he saw Gibbs nod in agreement,

"What happened Tony?" He asked,

"I was talking to you last night and… he hit me. I think he stole my phone. But then I don't know what happened. I woke up in here and then they injected me again." Gibbs nodded slowly, wondering why they chose to take Jack's word over Tony's - although Tony hadn't exactly been allowed a word in edgeways. At that moment the door opened and Claire appeared, her face gentle,

"Your daughter told me what happened," She said, as Gibbs smiled at her assumption, "I just want to check Tony's okay." Gibbs nodded as she quickly and thoroughly looked at Tony's head and checked that he hadn't suffered any ill effects from the sedation.

"He should be okay," She concluded, "But they shouldn't have sedated him twice. I'll talk to them." Gibbs nodded in gratitude and gently squeezed the back of Tony's neck, who blinked in exhaustion and tried not to lean against Gibbs. Just then the agent's phone went - so he gave an apologetic smile to Claire and answered,

"Gibbs."

"_Boss, it's McGee, I just watched through the CCTV with Abby and Tony's telling the truth, Rickman suddenly hit him and took the phone. We think there's something going on with him and that nurse."_

Gibbs nodded and answered, "Have you ID'd the person who signed him out that night?"

"_Ah… no - not yet Boss, but I'm working on it."_

"Dammit, how long does it take to look through some files?" McGee meekly apologised and answered,

"_How's Tony?"_

"He'll live." With that Gibbs hung up and glanced over at his agent, who had fallen asleep against him. Claire smiled and said,

"Let's get him off the floor and into his room, he'll be comfier than in here." Gibbs had a mind to tell her that Rickman had done it, but he was concerned that they might loose out on the investigation if Tony was unable to talk to him. He flinched as he put their work before his agent's well-being, but helped the doctor rest Tony on his bed,

"Mr Gibbs, about that phone call… I know it's none of my business, but it sounded a bit…"

"I work for a federal agency; we're working on a case." He told her, resting a hand on Tony's back as he rolled over in his sleep. Claire nodded and said,

"I should go, but you can feel free to stay a while. However, I have to insist that if Jack comes in you leave - I don't want him upset anymore than possible." Gibbs nodded, his stomach churning at the mention of that maniac's name. It suddenly hit him that Tony was sharing a room with a man who disembowelled someone with his bare hands and then ripped his extremities off - again by hand. He shook his head but glanced up as the door opened.

Jack wandered in and stared through the window again, as though completely unconcerned about the unconscious man on the bed opposite his. Gibbs growled slightly but stood up; patting Tony's back just before he left, having an extremely bad feeling whilst doing so.

**I'm sure nearly every chapter in this ends in pretty much the same way lol ;) Review? xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**As ever, thank you so much for the reviews :) Next chapter rolling up :D Oh yeah, and also - I have not a clue what they do in asylums as 'treatment' so I just made some stuff up that I think were used in 'The Dead Zone' lol - poetic licence?**

Tony sat on his bed, still slightly woozy from the sedation. He'd woken up to find Gibbs gone and Jack (As always) staring out the window. Groaning he'd rolled until he was in a sitting position. He scowled as he said a small 'Hello' to his roommate and didn't get a response. He'd thought he'd done so _well_; he'd gotten Jack to trust him - to even invite him out on his little walk with him and his mysterious friend.

"Hey Jack, you ready to tell me your friend's name?" He asked, rubbing his head as it started to throb. He got a silence, but pressed on, "I have a friend that I don't tell everyone about," He started conversationally, "His name's Thomas. He tells me things… things I don't always want to hear. He tells me to do things - things I don't always want to do. Have you ever been made to something you haven' felt was a good idea, but you did it anyway?" Tony asked quietly, at once trying to get a tiny murmur out of his head.

Jack stayed gazing sullenly out of the window, so Tony gave up for then, standing up and walking over to the door. No one had actually said he'd needed to stay inside his room. And he hadn't yet been round the whole place - he was sure there was a pool somewhere.

However, as soon as he was a few feet outside the building and exploring the grounds, a nurse walked up to him and firmly grabbed his arm,

"And just where do you think you're going?" She asked him, dragging him through a gate into a walled garden. It smelt lovely - there were roses everywhere and honeysuckle creeping up the bricks. Several other patients were seated on benches around the garden - also being chaperoned by nurses,

"I er… where are we going?" Tony asked, rather frightened as he was led through the rose garden and into another part of the building. It was rather dark and foreboding, leading to Tony struggling against the nurse's arms slightly,

"You're late for your first round of treatment." She told him, putting more force into her strides so it was impossible for him to resist without falling over,

"Treatment?" He questioned, sounding nervous as she pushed him through a door and into a room that was not unlike their interrogation rooms back at the navy yard. The nurse made him sit down at a chair on one side of table,

"The doctor will be in soon," She told him, wheeling a small trolley next to him. He glanced down and almost had a heart attack. Inside there were loads of small wires and electrical looking things, electrodes, sticky pads to go on his temples. She started to stick several to his head and hands - different points that must be sensitive to something. Abby would understand,

"What… what're you doing?" He squeaked as she attached them to a machine that looked like a large battery. The nurse didn't answer, and didn't react when her charge's head snapped up as the doctor entered the room,

"What's happening?" He asked her quickly as she sat down, "What are we doing?" She smiled at him reassuringly and answered,

"We need to do a few tests that involve your brain Tony, and this machine will help," He nodded and she continued, "There's no need to feel nervous - it won't hurt and your dad asked to be present for this first one, he's just through that glass." Tony looked into the two-way mirror and breathed out slightly, his face calming as he realised Gibbs was watching. Gibbs wouldn't let anything happen to him.

"Now Tony," Claire started - her voice calm and hypnotising, "I want you to imagine a few things for me - okay?" He nodded again and she began, "Right. First, I want you to imagine your friend, Thomas. Can you do that?" He looked confused but nodded, imagining something that - to his surprise - didn't look like Thomas Magnum at all. Instead it was someone who looked suspiciously like his father, Jack and Gibbs all rolled into one. The eyes were cool and calculating, the hands rough and strong, the voice loud and menacing. He flinched slightly, feeling threatened by this figment of his imagination. He twitched when the man started to speak. Although he knew he was safely inside the room with the doctor, and with Gibbs on the other side, he couldn't help but struggle in his seat as the image seemed to leap out of his mind and stand beside Claire,

"_Say hey Tony - what's happenin', 'sex machine'?" _When it spoke, it spoke with the voice of one of his frat brothers, but with what was undoubtedly the same tone his father (And sometimes Gibbs when he was really pissed off) used, _"You know what - you should so kill something," _It said, _Just to spice things up."_

Tony shook his head in an attempt to get rid of it and started to rub his eyes,

"Tony?" Claire questioned, and the young agent was sure he could detect movement on the other side of the mirror, "Are you okay?"

"Mhmm." He mumbled, blocking out the odd hallucination he seemed to be having. She nodded and asked,

"Is Thomas talking to you?" She asked quietly. Tony wrenched his eyes open and stared at 'Thomas'. He was still there. It was like whenever someone brought it up he appeared.

"Yeah," Tony answered softly, "He's saying it would spice things up if I killed something." Claire didn't even bat an eyelid. Instead, she just nodded and replied,

"Okay, what I want you to do is to just ignore him Tony. Can you do that? Concentrate on my voice instead. This time, I want you to imagine a rocking horse next to a cash machine." Tony spluttered but hurriedly imagined it, the freak hallucination gone as if it had never happened. He thought of the dark chestnut coloured rocking horse he'd had when he was small outside a bank in the city, wondering why the hell they were doing this.

After about 10 more minutes of this, she nodded to a nurse quietly sitting behind him who unhooked him from the machine. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and stared at the doctor, wondering if she would say anything.

"Okay Tony," She began, "That machine converts all of your brainwaves into graphs we can read, and we need to take you for a scan now - do you know what an MRI machine is?" He nodded worriedly, making her pat his hand comfortingly,

"Don't worry, it's not too bad. If you want, I can have your dad sat in there with you." Tony just nodded and ruffled his hair in exhaustion. Noticing this, she motioned for the nurse to help him off his chair and take him out the door. Following them, she said to the nurse,

"I think now would be a good idea if you let Tony wander the gardens a while with his dad," The nurse nodded, "And then we'll get you that scan."

Gibbs came out of the door next to their own, and walked over to him, noting the sweat on his forehead, the pale colour he had gone and the slight shaking of his arms,

"We'll go outside for a while," He said to the nurse and Doctor, taking Tony's arm, "Get some colour in his cheeks." They nodded and waved him away as he firmly took his 'son' outside,

"You okay Tony?" He asked, as soon as they were out of hearing distance from anyone. Tony nodded and rubbed his eyes again,

"I'm still just a bit… off. From the drugs and all." He told the older man, who frowned but answered,

"Did you have to tell her that 'Thomas' was telling you to kill things? Wasn't that a _bit _over the top?" Tony squirmed uncomfortably. Should he tell Gibbs the truth - that he was possibly going mad? No, he would be taken off the case and would never be allowed undercover again,

"I thought it might give it a little flavour." He told Gibbs, managing to muster a small grin up. Gibbs just shook his head, and asked,

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Never better." He copied the words he had the first day back from the plague. Gibbs gave the shadow of a smile and replied,

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"You look like crap."

~*~

To be honest, Tony _felt _like crap. However much he wanted to sleep, it just wasn't coming. After that god-awful MRI scanner, with so much banging and crashing, he'd gotten a large headache, and not even the aspirin they gave him helped.

"Hey, Gibbs." He struggled up from the little nest he'd made with the bedclothes. At first he thought his Boss had come into the room, but Jack was stood there with an odd smirk on his face. Tony, though fuzzy with the pain relief, was wary of the smile and answered, guardedly,

"Yeah?"

"You wanna come out with me this time? Like last time I went out. And Het said okay." Tony furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. Had he not been quite highly dosed up on pain-killers, he might have managed to work out who that was. As it happened, he was, so he managed to muster up a smile and said,

"Oh yeah? And what did you do last time?" Jack grinned manically and answered,

"I met my old roommate. Het said we had to. He had something she needed." Tony frowned, still wondering who 'Het' was.

"Okay," Tony told Jack, "But I need some shut-eye beforehand - I'm shattered." Jack bounced on his own bed like and over-excited child and answered,

"That's okay, we're not going until everyone's asleep." Tony just grunted. In his lethargy he wasn't thinking straight. He should be wondering what would happen, where his backup would be. He should be wondering when he would be able to get in touch with Gibbs. But as it were, he just finally fell into a deep sleep, mumbling slightly to himself and twitching awkwardly.

~*~

He was woken by a pillow soaring across the room and hitting his head, which still ached. Stirring, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes and his hair, patting it down and waited for his eyes to become accustomed to the dark before whispering hoarsely,

"Jack?"

"That's me!" A way too cheerful voice answered, "We're ready, let's go! Het said we needed to go back to Bill's house anyway, she left something there." Now more alert, Tony realised he needed to tell Gibbs. But how, without arousing suspicion?

"Jack, would you mind waiting outside while I quickly get dressed?" He asked, motioning to the pyjamas he was wearing. Jack grinned idiotically and stepped out the room. Quick as a flash Tony leapt out of the bed and rootled around Jack's bed, looking in all his pockets and bags until he finally found his phone, nestled in a coat pocket. He hastily pressed speed-dial and waited for Gibbs to answer the phone. It wasn't long before he did, but Tony guessed it was because it would have his name on the caller ID,

_"Yeah?"_ The rough voice answered - cautious, guarded - knowing Jack had stolen Tony's phone,

"Boss it's me," He hissed, keeping his voice down, "Jack and his friend 'Het' are taking me out - I'm sure they're going back to Lt King's place."

_"How did you get your phone back?"_ Gibbs asked,

"I just found it Boss - that's really not the biggest issue we have right now." Tony snapped back,

_"Relax DiNozzo, we'll have backup stationed there. As soon as you get there we'll arrest them."_

Tony nodded and answered, "Please hurry." before hanging up. He quickly dressed, slipping the phone into his pocket and walking out the room, being grabbed by his arms,

"Tony, come on - we have to meet Het by the entrance." Jack whispered, dragging Tony to said meeting place. They stood there in silence for a while, before Jack's eyes lit up and he saw his friend walk over. Paying no attention to Tony, she opened the front doors, saying as she did so,

"The CCTV is still on, but the book just says I've had to take both of you to hospital for a while. I still don't see why _he_ has to come." She snapped, zipping her large jacket up,

"Tony's my buddy Het," Jack whined, "He wants to know what we do!" The woman snarled as she turned to face Tony, a patient with whom she had never seen eye to eye,

"You just better keep your mouth closed." She warned him, before taking them to her car and starting it,

"Nurse Blackmore?" He asked, shaking his head as he took in the sight of the woman driving away from the dreaded asylum. Jack nodded eagerly,

"I've been helping Het find some photos that Bill took of her. He found us in his house last time, and we had to run back, but not before we got to kill him." Tony's eyes widened at how delighted Jack had sounded. He'd thought his roommate was a rather weak man who didn't want to do what his friend ordered. But it sounded like he'd taken great delight in it. Tony just nodded and asked, without thinking,

"Why'd you leave the name of the asylum using his…?" He trailed off, realising what he'd said. Jack didn't notice, and happily wittered,

"It was like a game," However, Nurse Blackmore caught on and swerved the car back round, taking them _back_to the hospital, "Where are we going Het?" Jack asked, confused,

"We're going back you idiot," She snarled, "Are you blind? This man is obviously a cop or something. How else would he know about the note? You boy," She shot at Tony, who was now quaking in his slippers, "Are going to find out what happens when you try and get some information out of _me_."

They arrived back at Rosewood, and soon Tony was dragged out of the car by his hair, another thump to the skull the keep him quiet as they re-entered the building,

"Is it true?" Jack asked him as Heather dragged him to a bit of the building that was off limits to everyone, "Are you a cop?" Tony burbled something incomprehensible and was pulled through some old, Victorian doors into a dark room with a huge machine inside,

"You know what this is, _Officer_?" Heather asked as she threw Tony into the contraption, "It's a machine that one of the doctors that worked here a while back created. It's supposed to help mad people. It spins round to give off images - as if you're inside one of those rotoscoping cameras that make still photos move. The flashing lights help as well," She grinned as she shut the door on the barely moving man, "Of course," She added thoughtfully, "If you're _not_ mad - you soon will be." She grinned and switched the button to turn it on, leaving the room and dragging Jack behind her, closing the large Victorian door and locking it.

**If anyone thinks the machine sounds familiar it was used in 'The House On Haunted Hill' lol. I tell you, that sequence in the movie scares the life outta me. Not good for epileptics either. Anyways… review? And well done for everyone who guessed Heather was the bad 'un. I guess it was kinda obvious, but I'm not too good at keeping people guessing :) xx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thankies for all the reviews :) I think this is the second to last chapter, so stay with me one this :) Enjoy :D**

Tony simply looked at the door that had just closed, trying to decipher what exactly had happened. He could just see Nurse Blackmore locking the door and flicking a switch before dragging Jack behind her. The lights in the metal box he was in dulled, and he heard a slight bussing as it started to turn slowly before gaining momentum and getting faster. Panicking, he threw himself at the door, hammering at it with his fists before realising that was hopeless - no one came down this part of the building.

He sat in a corner and put his head in his arms before feeling something dig into his hip. His eyes glowed when he remembered he still had his phone in his pocket. He hastily dragged it out as the lights started to flash dully and was even more relieved when he saw he had signal. He dialled Gibbs's number as fast as possible and got a happy lump in his throat when it was answered immediately,

"_Tony? Where are you? We've been stationed at King's house for more than an hour!" _

_An hour? _Tony thought dazedly, before pulling himself back and saying, "She cottoned on Gibbs, She knew I was a cop, she turned round - I'm back at the hospital and I…" He paused, seeing a figure materialize inside the box.

He was dressed in a really old fashioned swimming outfit and had a small moustache. He smiled at Tony in a creepy way and started to bounce a ball he had in his hand. Tony gazed at him as the lights started flashing even more and when they did, the figure came closer,

"_Tony!"_ Gibbs bawled down the phone, _"Tony, you're breaking up, we're coming for you! Stay there, we'll find you!"_ The phone slipped from Tony's fingers as he gazed into the pitch black, knowing something was there, and was proved right when the lights flickered once more and the figure appeared again. Tony soon found himself curled up in a ball, whimpering like a child.

A sudden loud crash resonated around the box and he leapt up, his heart in his mouth as he stared around, the flashing lights giving him a headache and making him feel nauseous. The man bouncing the ball was gone, replaced by a very… _floaty _sensation. It felt as though he was underwater, and was soon met with the sight of a beautiful woman. Her hair was floating gently as though they _were _underwater, and Tony could only stare at her, amazed by her beauty.

He reached out a tentative hand to touch her - see if she was real - when she turned and he gaped at the back of her head. It was as if she'd been shot in the back of the head with a shotgun. There was blood dripping down her back and he got a good look at the inside of her head.

When the flashing started again he simply fainted.

~*~

"Tony! Tony, you're breaking up, we're coming for you! Stay there, we'll find you!" Gibbs yelled and clicked his fingers at McGee, his face furious. The younger agent stumbled over his words as Tony hung up,

"Ah Boss, he hung up before I could get a clear fix on where he is, but I know he's definitely at the hospital…" He squirmed uncomfortably as Gibbs glared at him, before getting into the car and slamming his door. Ziva and McGee had to jump in quickly as he started the engine before they'd even realised he'd sat in it.

"He mentioned a 'she' - who would that be?" He spat, driving at breakneck speed. McGee kept a tight hold on the laptop he had on his lap and said hurriedly,

"It's probably the 'friend' Rickman had sign him out."

"Ya _think_, McGee?!" Gibbs yelled, turning a corner so quickly the car almost rolled over onto its side, "How have you _not _found who that is yet?" He snarled, speeding up the driveway to the hospital,

"Boss it's harder than it sounds, they're really tight with their documents and I don't really have just cause to find it - so their lawyers were threatening to sue us…"

"You've hacked into the CIA before McGee!" He yelled, slamming the door of the car as he got out of it,

"I… I know Boss, but I don't…"

"Mr Gibbs!" They all looked up to the steps of the building where the head nurse for Tony's ward was stood, looking pleased with herself, "What brings you here?"

"Tony," He growled, and swept past her, "Ziva, you check the grounds, McGee - with me." As they stormed in, many patients and nurses alike looked through their doors to see what all the commotion was. Claire came out of her office, looking tired but determined,

"Mr Gibbs, I know you're worried for you son, but I can't allow you to just come in here whenever you want! Do you not think that other parents haven't attempted to stay with their children overnight? I'm sorry, but it's not possible." She sounded quite adamant and stamped her foot when Gibbs prepared to walk past her, completely ignoring her.

"You're going to have to forgive him Ma'am - he gets a bit angry when one of his agents goes MIA." Claire looked stunned,

"What?"

"Anthony Gibbs is actually Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, we work for NCIS."

"NCIS? And you sent and undercover agent to us for… But he seemed… He's not mentally unsound?"

"That's to be debated," Gibbs growled, before he grabbed hold of her arm, "When's the last time you saw him?"

"I…" She seemed confused, but managed to say, "He was in his room… If he tried to get out the CCTV would have caught it, and a nurse on the door would have seen him if he tried to get out of the front. But if there was another complication, he might have been put in the restraint room again."

"McGee, check the restraint room and CCTV." Gibbs ordered, before marching over to the front desk and grabbing the signing-out book.

"Excuse me, you can't read that!" The nurse at the desk said, trying to take it back. Gibbs just opened it anyway, and found that the most recent entry was from Nurse Blackmore,

_Both Patients Rickman and Gibbs are being signed out and into my care for a hospital examination that can't wait until tomorrow._

Anger boiled up inside Gibbs, and he tore out the building to find Ziva holding Heather's arms and placing her foot on the other woman's neck (She was lying down)

"I found her trying to escape over a fence Gibbs; she was trying to take him with her also." She cocked her head over to where Jack was stood awkwardly, trying not to catch anybodies eye. Gibbs went over and said,

"You know where Tony is. Tell me." He said it so forcefully that Jack backed away slightly,

"I don't know exactly _where_ he is, but I know _where_ he is." Gibbs raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Leaning in close, he whispered to Jack,

"You are going to tell me where he is, and you are going to stop speaking in riddles. Then, you will be arrested for the murder of Lt. William King." Jack looked down sullenly,

"I didn't _want _to - she said he had something of hers that she needed." He pointed to the woman stuck under Ziva's foot, trying to escape,

"Ziva take her into custody. _You_," He continued, grabbing hold of Jack, "Are going to show me where Tony is, or your life won't be worth living." He threw the scared man in front of him, and shoved him, making him show the agent where Tony was.

They soon entered and abandoned part of the building,

"No one's been down here for decades…" Claire whispered, keeping close to McGee (Much to the younger man's delight - though he was trying to act professional),

"What's down here?" He asked.

She shook her head, "Nothing, it was all moved, apart from the Vantacutt machine." Gibbs turned as he walked and asked,

"What's a Vantacutt machine?" Claire looped a piece of her hair around her finger and said,

"It was invented by a doctor who used to work here, back when it was first opened -Doctor Vantacutt. It supposedly made people sane, but eventually it was shut down and banned. It flashed and made illusions, it moved as well. Think a funfair ride but utterly terrifying." Gibbs's face hardened as Jack led them to the room with the machine in. To his horror it was turned on, and through the doors all they could see were flashes.

"Turn that damn thing off!" He demanded, and Claire leapt forward and pressed a button. The machine slowed and the flashes became less frequent. When it finished, Gibbs heaved the door open and looked around the metal box before finding the pitiful heap that was DiNozzo. He had curled in on himself - much like he had done when he'd been sedated - but he was making odd noises, and whimpering pathetically,

"Tony?" Gibbs shook his shoulder gently, "C'mon Tony, look at me." The younger man opened an eye and glanced up, squinting,

"You're not real…" He whimpered and buried his head in his arms again, "I want Gibbs."

"Hey, I'm right here," Gibbs said softly, his heart breaking, "I'm right here," He repeated, "It's me." Tony looked up again,

"The man Boss… the man with the ball… he was… he _stared_, he said things as well… bad things…" He whimpered again but this time buried his head in Gibbs's lap, snuffling slightly and refusing to move. Gibbs sighed and ran a hand through his hair,

"We should take him to hospital," Claire said, from where she had been stood at the back, "He needs to be checked over." Gibbs nodded and slowly stood up, managing to take Tony with him,

"C'mon Son, we're taking you to hospital…" He whispered, knowing Tony didn't want to go - but what choice did he have?

~*~

Just an hour later they had both Jack and Nurse Blackmore in custody, Tony had been admitted and was sleeping and Gibbs had a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Gibbs!" He glanced up to see Abby running towards him, "Is he okay? Please let him be okay!" She cried, squeezing him tightly like a life line,

"He's asleep now Abbs." Gibbs said, deliberately dodging the question. Abby knew he had, so she slapped him on the shoulder (Though not with much force) and said,

"Gibbs tell me! Is he okay?" Gibbs sighed and sank onto the plastic chair in the waiting room,

"I don't know Abbs. Physically he's fine. But mentally…"

"Timmy told me about the machine," She said softly, "It sounds awful. How is he supposed to get better from this?" She started to cry, leaning onto Gibbs for support. He put a comforting arm around her and rubbed her back, letting her use his shoulder as a pillow,

"Agent Gibbs?" He and Abby both looked up to see the doctor stood by the door, "You're listed as Agent DiNozzo's next of kin," Gibbs smiled, feeling proud that Tony had enough trust in him to do that, "Would you come in here a moment?" Abby frowned at the almost ominous tone of the instruction, but pushed Gibbs, indicating she wanted to come too. The doctor looked like he was about to argue, but Gibbs gave him an icy glare,

"Whatever you have to say to me, you say to her too." The doctor knew there was no use in saying otherwise so he walked into Tony's hospital room. Gibbs stared softly at the young man in the bed. He looked exhausted, physically and mentally drained. And it was all his fault Gibbs realised. He _knew _Ziva would have been able to cope better,

"Agent Gibbs, Tony has suffered a few blows to the head, though nothing we think warrants a need to keep an eye on, and he has a few cuts and bruises here and there, but…"

"Cut to the chase Doctor." Gibbs growled, feeling Abby squeeze his hand,

"Um yes," The doctor stammered, feeling flustered, "Well we haven't examined him fully yet, but there is a very large chance he will be mentally scarred from this. We don't know how severe it is, but I'm guessing that he'll need therapy for a while."

"No," Abby whispered, "Not Tony. He's really tough - I don't think you know just how tough Tony is. I mean, he would probably beat Gibbs in a fight, well maybe not Gibbs, but someone who isn't quite as tough as Gibbs but still…"

"Abby," Gibbs hushed her, before asking, "Is it the experience of the asylum or the machine?"

"You'll really have to ask my colleague, she should be coming soon, she's more psychology than me." He gave them a fleeting smile and left, leaving them both to stand and look at each other, before gazing at Tony.

"Y'know it's kind of off-putting when you've got someone staring at you Boss…" Tony whispered, one eye open. At once Abby gasped and flew round to the other side of the bed.

"Tony! Oh look at you, don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"But it's so fun Abbs…" He again whispered, which Gibbs didn't think was a good sign. DiNozzo - not being loud and (Let's face it) obnoxious?

"Excuse me, I'm Doctor Phillips, a psychiatrist?" Gibbs nodded slightly and moved aside so she could come into the room. She saw Tony was awake and smiled,

"How's my patient?" She asked, flashing perfect white teeth at him and tossing her auburn hair. Both Tony and Gibbs were slightly in awe, leaving Abby to roll her eyes and answer,

"He's awake, but he wants a complete head exam to make sure he's okay." Doctor Phillips smiled at her and replied,

"I was just going to talk to him for a bit and see what was what. Would you two mind leaving while I do?" Abby opened her mouth, but was amazed when Gibbs shook his head and pulled her out of the room by her arm.

As soon as the door was closed she cried,

"Why did we have to leave Gibbs? He's got no secrets from us! We know what he went through!" Gibbs managed to get her to sit down before saying,

"Abbs, do you honestly think that DiNozzo will be able to talk about it in front of us? Hell I wouldn't be surprised if he broke down during it. He is strong, I know - but he's only human. I don't think I would have been able to go through all that without any lasting damage." Abby just sniffed but stayed sat next to him, only moving when Gibbs said he needed coffee,

"I'll go for you," She offered, "You need to stay here, in case there's any news." He had just nodded and let her go, lost in his thoughts.

~*~

Eventually, Doctor Phillips came out of the room, rubbing her face tiredly with her hands. Immediately Gibbs leapt to his feet and asked,

"Is he okay?"

"…In a way."

"And what do you mean by that Doctor Phillips?" His tone was rather menacing, but The doctor faced him bravely,

"I _mean_, that while he will appear normal and happy he's drawn a veil over everything," She saw his confused look and explained, "While I was talking to him, I asked him questions that you would think have no relevance. And whenever I did his eyes brightened. But as soon as we talk about the case, the asylum, the Vantacutt machine or his past, his face darkens and he looks almost depressed."

"What does his past have to do with anything?" She studied Gibbs's face carefully,

"I can see you care for him Agent Gibbs, so you must know that some of the hospital visits he had when he was a child weren't all accidents," He sighed and his shoulders slumped, which she knew meant he'd had suspicions, "I just think," She continued, "That if we got him a trained councillor, it wouldn't really do anything. I think we'd have more luck if _you _talked to him."

"And that's your professional opinion is it?" He asked. She laughed and swung her hair over her shoulder,

"Yes, yes it is Agent Gibbs," She answered, before becoming more serious, "Just talk to him," She told him, "Let him talk back, listen to him. He's feeling desperate. He's struggling to figure out what's real and what's not. You need to help him. He's feeling lost." Gibbs watched as she walked away, and glanced in the hospital room, shocked to see Tony sat up in his bed but bent over his knees, crying.

**Go on Gibbs, go comfort him, you know you want to ;) Will you fine people do me the honour of a review? It doesn't take very long, honest ;) xx**

**P.S - Did anyone get my even bigger House On Haunted Hill reference?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks everyone, for all the reviews :) I'm really in the mood to watch 'House on Haunted Hill' now lol :P**

Glancing down the hospital corridor, Gibbs realised that it was suddenly deserted. He almost wanted Abby to come back so she could go and talk to Tony, but he knew he must. His heart was breaking at the sight of the younger man sobbing weakly into his knees, with no form of comfort being offered.

"Tony?" The agent looked up to see his Boss in front of him, "Are you okay?" Gibbs asked gently, sitting down on the bed beside him. Tony hastily sniffed and rubbed at his eyes, nodding,

"I'm fine Boss, never better, I'm just a little…" He tailed off, not sure what sort of description to give of his mental state. It was obviously a little worse for wear, and he couldn't deny that he felt very shaky and quite paranoid as well.

"You can tell me you know," Gibbs said to him softly, looking directly at his eyes, "I'll try and help." Tony gave a half smile but shook his head,

"You don't need to bother Boss, I'll be fine. I just need some sleep, and then I'll be good as new."

"What happened in that asylum?" Gibbs asked, pressing him for details. He knew Tony didn't want to talk about it, and he also knew that he hadn't been lying when he said he needed some sleep. However, he had to know what his agent had been through. Tony sighed, and stared down at the duvet,

"Nothing much. Had a couple of hallucinations. Started to think 'Thomas' was real. He sounded like one of my frat brothers mixed with my father. Imagine that!" He started to titter nervously, suddenly erupting into gales of laughter, making Gibbs extremely worried and suspicious. It wasn't often he was suspicious of his agents, but now it was the bad kind of suspicious. The kind that made you doubt them.

"DiNozzo," He started, "You had better tell me what's going on with you, or so help me I will smack you so hard you'll feel it when you're dead." Tony's giggling subsided, and Gibbs relaxed a bit, but was quite scared that he'd intimidated the young man, and that hadn't been what he was aiming for,

"Tony," He tried again, in a softer voice, "I can help. Just tell me everything." Tony glanced down at the bedcover once more and sighed,

"Boss, however much you're tying to help me, or get me to open up - which by the way is slightly creepy - it's not going to work. I don't want to talk about what happened in there, and you can't make me."

"Oh can't I?" He asked, a smirk on his face. Tony gulped and pushed himself back further into his pillow,

"Okay, maybe you can, but I…" He stopped as Gibbs laid a hand on his knee. Tony looked up in amazement, as Gibbs smiled slightly and reached one hand out - tapping his agent's chin so that his mouth closed from where it had fallen open.

"That's so cute…" They both looked over to the door to see Abby leant against the doorway, a smile on her face at their interaction, "I knew one day you'd break that physical barrier Gibbs!" She beamed as Gibbs gave her a _look_ but didn't remove his hand from Tony's knee. The action had soothed Tony, and he was lounging in the bed quite happily, yawning every so often.

"Something you want, Abbs?"

"I wanted to see how Tony was!" She defended and immediately leapt into the room without waiting for Gibbs's approval. Tony was happy to see her, and grinned as she sat on the side of the bed that Gibbs wasn't at,

"So?" She asked as she got herself settled, "How are you?" He beamed at her,

"Fine! Absolutely fine! I'm physically fit; and since the doctor's can't see any reason to keep me here since I'm so good on a physical level. I mean, they said I could go tomorrow if I'm happy with myself, and I think that I'm fine, you know… in a physical sense…" He babbled, and left Abby to stare at him pitifully before turning her attention to Gibbs, who quickly signed, as Tony was currently looking at Abby,

_Talk to you outside._

She'd nodded at him, obviously not missing the gaps in Tony's speech. Maybe he was hoping she'd caught them. Not one nod towards his mental state, but was trying to reassure her nonetheless, knowing she'd be worried. He was a good friend, no doubt about that, but she sometimes wished he'd just come out and say what was wrong with him, rather than just throwing out some riddles.

However, she pretended not to have noticed, and smiled at him, saying,

"It's just as well you get back to work soon Tony, Gibbs loves getting you to write reports." He laughed, but both Abby and Gibbs heard the pain in it - they missed the light-heartedness and devil-may-care in it,

"Tell me about it Abbs; remember the first report I did for him?" She giggled and they started to discuss it, until the doctor came in,

"Agent DiNozzo, we've decided that you can go today. Just so long as you turn up to these sessions with our psychologist, I know you don't exactly…" The rest of his sentence was drowned out by Tony complaining loudly,

"A session with your shrink? No way! They'll just blame my childhood and try to bring up Kate's death and say I never recovered - they always just do that! Please Boss!" He beseeched Gibbs, his eyes wide and shining, "I can't deal with more psychologists! Last time I went to see one, I had a hallucination!" He stopped, not wanting Abby to know that, but the damage was done,

"Anthony DiNozzo!" She yelled, "You are going to those sessions, even if Gibbs has to drag you by your ears! Don't you get it that you need help? You need to talk about this, and maybe they can do something for you…"

"Like what Abbs?" He spat out, ripping his hand away from hers, "Give me more drugs? Lock me in a box that spins and flashes? Or maybe - just maybe - they'll throw me into an asylum. It can't be that bad can it?" He snarled at her, making her shuffle away slightly,

"I'm sorry Tony, I didn't…"

"What - think? Seems to be a common occurrence around this place. 'Hey, let's get Tony to talk about something he obviously doesn't want to talk about!' Are you so stupid you don't get that?" Abby's eyes filled with tears and she left the room, and Tony immediately forgot what he had been angry about,

"Wait, Abbs, I…"

"Just leave it DiNozzo." He wanted to just die right there at hearing Gibbs's tone. He glanced up to see the awful look in his Boss's eyes before the older man left the room to go and comfort Abby. Tony just groaned and laid back onto the bed, not noticing the doctor casually slip something into the IV - just meant to calm him down, but ended up with him falling asleep, rolling over slightly so he clutched at the pillow tightly and snuffled into it, looking all the while like a child who hadn't had a decent sleep in weeks.

~*~

"Abbs, he's just…"

"Gibbs quite defending him! You don't need to!" At first Gibbs was surprised, before realising what she meant, "It's not his fault; he was right - I didn't think."

"Abby, you can't…"

"Gibbs let me finish! Neither of us know what happened to him in there. All we know is that he was trapped in this… almost a kind of crazy-box! He saw things and was spinning and flashing… He mustn't have known where to look! And the drugs they gave him, to sedate him - how awful must that have been for him? And we don't know what else has happened! He hasn't really been awake long enough to tell us!"

Gibbs laid a hand on her arm, calming her, "Abbs, I agree, but I won't let him just sit there in self-pity, not speaking to anyone. I know it'll hurt him, but I _have _to talk to him about it. Who else will he talk to about it? The shrink they're making him see? Ziva?"

"Me." Abby volunteered in a small voice. Gibbs kissed her temple gently and said,

"Abbs, I know you have this unique way of calming him down and helping him deal with things - but this is my responsibility, I sent one of my agents in there without…"

"See, that's what you don't get!" Gibbs raised an eyebrow. Was Abby shouting at him?

"I care about my _friend_ Gibbs. I want to know if he'll be alright in the coming weeks, I want to make sure he doesn't have any nightmares. I don't want to wonder whether he'll be fit for work next week, or whether he'll make a complaint because I sent him somewhere that was obviously going to be dangerous. I don't _care_ about Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. I care about _Tony_." With that she turned on her heel and stormed down the corridor, leaving Gibbs to stand there in shell-shock for a moment.

"Er… Boss?" He glanced down the corridor Abby had just ran down and saw both McGee and Ziva stood there, "Er… is everything okay? With Abby, I mean? And - and Tony, I just…" McGee started to stutter, and Ziva placed a hand on his upper-arm,

"How's Tony?" She asked calmly. Gibbs could simply nod, and walked into the room which contained said agent. He shut the door doing so, leaving his two other agents to glance at each other. Suddenly, they both started to hurry to where they saw Abby leaving, wanting to know what happened.

~*~

"Ah hell DiNozzo, was Abby right?" Gibbs asked Tony, putting a gentle hand on his forehead for a moment before removing it and sitting down, "Do I really care more about how the team works and the case more than I do for your wellbeing?" He sank down in the uncomfortable plastic hospital chair, rubbing his hands over his face, feeling exhausted,

"For the record, I don't give a damn if you file a complaint about this. I wouldn't blame you. I'd probably do the same. I sent you into an _asylum_ of all places - without backup. You're a damn good agent Tony, but no one is good enough to survive that without calluses." He paused, hearing nothing but Tony's breathing, smiling as Tony twisted himself again and nuzzled his head into the pillow.

The door opened and Ducky crept in, saying as he did,

"Abigail just called me, and told me to come. What's happened?" Gibbs groaned,

"Where do I begin Duck? Abby's mad because she thinks I care more about the case than DiNozzo, and to be honest I think I have to agree with her. And we don't know how Tony actually _is_. He won't talk properly to any of us." Ducky patted his knee as he sat next to him,

"My dear fellow, Anthony is being himself - stubborn and not wanting to burden anyone else with his problems. He just needs reassurance; you know how insecure the poor chap is. Comfort him, and you may be surprised with how he reacts. As to the other thing," He said, as he got up to leave, "You know that's not true. Abigail just doesn't know of some of the other times when you've put Tony before a case."

Gibbs looked up at him with sad eyes,

"I can't really come up with any here Duck." Ducky's eyes twinkled and he answered,

"When young Anthony had the plague, she didn't know when you sat with him all night in that room, helping him when he needed to cough."

"That wasn't during a case." Gibbs told him dolefully,

"No, but you got _three _calls about various marine-related crimes during that one night, and you turned them all down and passed them to different teams. The Director was furious; he couldn't remember a time when you'd not done your job. And why did you not do your job on that occasion?"

"Well I had to stay with Tony," Gibbs answered straight away, as though it was obvious, "I couldn't let him stay there without…" He tailed off, realising what he'd said,

"Exactly," Ducky agreed, "And why had you never done that before with any other agent?"

"It's not that I have favourites in my team Ducky," Gibbs told him, "I just… Tony's…"

"Different?" The ME offered, before quietly leaving the room. It was once again just Tony and Gibbs in there, as quiet as the grave - with Gibbs feeling slightly better about himself, and was able to sit up straighter while he was waiting patiently for Tony to wake up again.

**Okay, I thought this was going to be the last chapter - but it was obviously not meant to be ;) I can't leave it now, they need a long talk and Tony of course has to stay at Gibbs's while he gets better. Who else would make sure he goes to his sessions? Lol, anywho - review? xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry about the delay, I just got my exam results as well - at least I passed everything lol, that's all I'm going to say ;)**

Tony rolled over just as he started to wake up, allowing Gibbs time to get up and pretend that he hadn't been sat at the younger agent's bedside the whole time. It was dark now, and a storm had just begun, causing several sheets of lightning to be seen through the blinds of the hospital room.

"Gibbs!" The man in question whirled round sharply to see that Tony had leapt out of sleep by a particularly vicious thunderclap and had yelled out. He could tell straight away that Tony wasn't actually aware of much right now, but it gave him a nice feeling that he was the first thing Tony would think of when in need of comfort,

"I'm right here DiNozzo," He said calmly, "I'm not going anywhere." Tony had sighed and nodded sub-consciously before trying to go back to sleep,

"Uh-uh Tony," Abby scolded as she walked into the room at that moment, "You're getting out of here now, you can sleep later." Gibbs scowled and answered,

"Abby, he's exhausted; it's not good to keep him from sleeping."

"Nah I'm fine…" Tony mumbled, pushing himself up and rubbing at his eyes, "Let's get going, I'm bored in here…" He trailed off, watching the storm raging outside with frustration. Gibbs followed his gaze and said quietly,

"I'll pull the car up front; you don't need to go out too much." Tony blushed and nodded in thanks, glancing down at the duvet in embarrassment. He'd never been scared of thunderstorms before - what was the big deal? He didn't want to seem like a wimp in front of his boss, but what choice did he have? It reminded him of that machine…

Gibbs looked at him for a moment before nodding to Abby and walking out, so that he could pull his car round the front. When he was gone, Abby spoke up,

"Tony?" He glanced up at her, "Will you tell me about it? That machine? I know it flashed - I can tell by your look whenever there's lightning…" She trailed off, sitting next to him on the bed and stroking his hand. He smiled wanly at her and replied,

"It's no big deal Abbs, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. Soon as I get a bit more shut-eye I'll be good to…" He stopped and jumped when another thunderclap sounded right above them. Unable to stop himself he threw his arms over Abby and hid his face in her shoulder, nuzzling in, in need of comfort. She beamed at this and started to stroke his hair softly,

"Abbs?" She looked over to the door, where Gibbs's face had appeared, apparently already ready with the car. He looked confused, and Abby whispered,

"The thunder." She cocked her head over to the window for emphasis and he nodded in understanding,

"C'mon Tony, I got a bottle of bourbon, some pizza and a bed with your name all over it." He said quietly, patting his agent lightly on the head. Tony nodded and allowed himself to be slowly pulled up from his embrace with Abby and into a wheelchair,

"I don't need a chair," He mumbled to them as he was wheeled down the corridors, "I can walk…"

"Sure ya can kid," Gibbs said soothingly, "Just humour Abby." The Goth rolled her eyes as she knew that Gibbs was the one who wanted Tony to be in the chair, not her. However, she kept schtum and patted Tony's head from her position next to him, gaining a smile off him.

They were soon at the entrance, and Tony shakily got out of the chair and walked out, biting his lip when a flash of lightning spiked over them,

"It's okay Tony, we've got you." Abby promised him, taking his hand and leading him into Gibbs's car, letting him sit in the passenger side next to the older man.

"Can I choose the station?" He asked, settling down comfortably in the chair, "Something loud maybe…"

"Nope," Gibbs said straight away as he buckled in, "My car, my station." With that and a small slap to Tony's wrist he settled it at something which sounded rather soft and warm. It was against all of Gibbs to even have the radio on at all, but he knew his senior agent needed to keep his mind off everything that had happened. He also hoped that with the sound low, the rain on the windows and the soft hum of the engine, DiNozzo would fall into an easy sleep.

He remembered countless times that Kelly had fallen asleep in the car because of these conditions. And it worked. In less that five minutes he looked over and saw that Tony's head was lolling against the head rest and his feet curled up in a valiant attempt to pull his knees up to his chest. Abby sighed at the sight and asked quietly,

"Do you think he'll actually talk Gibbs? I know you think he can't stand up to your stare, but if he really doesn't want to say anything, he won't." Gibbs continued to stare forward as he was driving,

"He will," He told her grimly, "If I say please he will."

~*~

Tony woke up to find himself in an extremely warm and comfortable bed. When he rolled over he was met with a plate with pieces of still-warm pizza on them. He grinned and took a bite, managing to keep it all down when he did so. He realised that Gibbs had ordered his favourite and smiled a bit more, before attempting to go back to sleep by snuggling under the duvet, pleased that he was away from any questions about what happened.

~*~

However, as it happened, Gibbs was sat inside interrogation at that point, staring at Nurse Blackmore,

"So… you going to tell me why you tried to kill my agent?" He asked amiably. The woman in front of him managed to muster up a smirk and replied,

"That machine wouldn't have killed him - and I didn't know he was an agent, did I?"

"Oh, well that changes it," Gibbs said in a sarcastic voice, throwing his arms up in the air, "Well you're free to go, it doesn't matter if you though you were going to kill just someone's son." She flushed but replied haughtily,

"The fact remains that I didn't kill him. And he wouldn't have died in there."

"I'm not talking about the machine," Gibbs replied calmly, "I'm talking about the sedatives that were over-administered, right after he'd been knocked unconscious."

"He was hysterical…" She tried to defend herself, but only made it worse,

"And I wonder _why_ he would have been hysterical Ms Blackmore?" Gibbs snarled, so close to losing his temper completely, "Having been hit over the head by your accomplice and a murderer."

"He wouldn't have been a murderer if that idiot Bill hadn't tried to intervene. All we wanted was some pictures, but no - he tried to fight back."

"So you decided to kill him?"

"No! It was Jack… he never really saw eye to eye with Bill, and before I knew it - he'd gouged the man's stomach out." Gibbs raised an eyebrow, unbelieving,

"Although I want to believe we got the right person - I don't think that's the case. Rickman's thin - and pretty weedy. I don't think he would have been able to gouge someone's stomach out, let alone rip their extremities off by hand." He gave her portly frame a significant look and she scowled, before screeching,

"I want a lawyer!" Gibbs grimaced and stood up, taking his file with him,

"Somehow, I don't think you're going to get one."

"Does that mean I can go?" She asked, wondering if he didn't believe she'd done it,

"Nope. You'll _need_ a lawyer; you'll just have trouble getting one." She growled and banged her hands off the table in anger,

"You'll be sorry! I have powerful connections…"

"Powerful connections…" Gibbs repeated, reaching into the file and bringing out some photos, "Would they be strong enough to hold up to _this _in court?" With that he threw the photos down on the table where she could look at them. Gasping, she scooped them up in horror and cried,

"Where did you get these?!"

"Lt. King's house - you should have just checked his pockets after you killed him. We'll be talking to you about that later as well." He added, pointing towards the pictures that clearly showed her sexually assaulting some of the patients at the asylum. She reddened with anger as an agent came into interrogation and pulled her up, taking her into the holding cells.

Gibbs breathed out slowly and walked out as well, leaning against the corridor wall. Those pictures… it could easily have been Tony in them. He'd had McGee call Claire and she told him in a shocked voice that she had given physicals to the rest of the patients and found that some of the ones in the ward Nurse Blackmore had been in charge of showed signs of assault as new as 2 days old.

Tony. Gibbs sighed as he remembered the young man currently in his home, probably still sleeping. He asked Abby to stay there while he went, not liking the thought of Tony being there on his own. Flipping his cell open, he frowned when it read he had three missed calls, all from Abby. At once he went up to the bullpen and clicked his fingers at McGee, throwing his phone over to him,

"Make the ringer work." He instructed, before picking up the office phone and calling his own house. After a while, he wondered whether anyone would pick up, before a voice replied,

"_Gibbs's house - his favourite person speaking._" Gibbs chuckled and replied,

"Hey Abbs - what did you want?"

"_Gibbs!_" She yelled, "_You need to come back, not long after you left Tony started to have nightmares, you know how he gets sometimes after difficult cases, and I couldn't calm him down. I mean, I did eventually, but it took a while - which is why it took so long for me to answer, and I couldn't exactly leave him, just as he was calming down, so…_"

"Abby," Gibbs interrupted, "Calm down. Now - what's wrong with DiNozzo?" Both McGee and Ziva glanced up and looked at one another before trying to listen in. They both scowled, as Tony was a much better eavesdropper than either of them. Gibbs appeared to be listening intently for a moment before nodding and replying,

"Hang tight Abbs, I'll be there soon." He put the phone down and stood up, grabbing a few files,

"Er… Boss? Where are you going?" McGee asked, wondering why he was taking those files,

"The Director wanted to see you as soon as you came out of interrogation, remember?" Ziva reminded him, causing him to look back,

"Tell her I went for coffee."

~*~

Gibbs quietly opened the door to his house and realised that all the lights were on. Frowning, he went to turn the one off in the kitchen, and jumped slightly as Abby said behind him,

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Bossman." He raised an eyebrow but left the light on,

"And why not Abby?" She glanced upstairs with a slight scared face and said quietly,

"When I got Tony to wake up from his nightmare he was hysterical. He ran around putting _every _light on, even the one in your basement. Oh yeah, and all the lamps and he opened the door of the fridge so that the light was on, but when I got him back upstairs I shut it." She said, nodding towards the object. Gibbs nodded and asked,

"What was the nightmare about?"

Abby chewed a piece of hair, "He wouldn't say. He just kept babbling about how some Vant… Vatta… some Doctor was in his room. He wouldn't be quiet until I let him put all the lights on."

"Vantacutt," Gibbs told her, "The machine he was in was made by a Doctor Vantacutt. He put in images that spun and looked like they were moving. I bet one of them was of him." Abby whimpered slightly and replied,

"You'd better go up and talk to him - he won't talk properly to anyone else." Gibbs raised an eyebrow as if highly doubting that, but was pushed to the stairs by the lab tech,

"Go _up _Gibbs, he needs you." The older man sighed but dutifully climbed the stairs, glancing over to the room he'd put Tony in. He walked in slowly and found Tony sat on the bed, twisting the duvet nervously with his hands,

"Boss!" He gasped, obviously not expecting him, "What're you doing here?"

"Well seeing as this is my house DiNozzo, I guess I just popped by to do some plumbing." He said sarcastically, earning a sheepish grin from the younger man,

"Fair point Boss." Gibbs nodded and there was a moment of awkward silence before Gibbs just came out with it,

"For God's sake kid, tell me. What happened to make you decide it would be a good idea to run up my electricity bill?" Tony blushed and glanced down,

"Sorry about that Boss. I just… I thought that there was someone else here."

"Well me and Abby have both checked Tony," He said softly, "There's no one here." Tony nodded but still kept his gaze firmly fixed to the duvet,

"I just… it's stupid…" He stuttered, not sure how to come out with it without sounding like a total idiot. However, the calming hand Gibbs had laid on his shoulder helped, "I had a nightmare," He said quickly, sounding like a child. He blushed some more, but when he realised Gibbs wasn't going to say anything, he continued,

"It was… it was like I was back in that box. And the guy who made it… Dr Vantacutt… he was - he was there. I couldn't get out, and he got t-that nurse to pass him some… some surgical tools. And then he kept coming towards me, and pretty soon I was backed against the side of it, and I couldn't… I couldn't…" He gave up, and sighed, resting his forehead on his knee.

"Tony," Gibbs started, "I can't pretend to know what went on in that box, but I can help. I'll take you to the psychiatrist sessions…"

"No way Boss!" He argued, "I don't want to go within _spitting _distance of another shrink! They'll blame stuff that happened to me ages ago and say I'm not coping. They'll shove drugs down me, and you know how I don't like drugs, and…"

"Tony, the psychiatrist is just there to _listen_. She'll help if she knows something that'll actually work, but… and I'm not trying to be sharp here kid, you're just going to have to get over it. Talk about it, use punching bags with the words 'Rosewood Institute' taped to them…" Tony chuckled in a watery way and replied,

"Guess I could try that. Listen Boss, thanks for… y'know - letting me stay in your house and everything."

"No problem. Oh," He added, remembering something, "I interrogated Nurse Blackmore this evening - that's where I was. Seems she'd been doing some inappropriate things with some of the patients." Tony shuddered but asked,

"What about Jack? What's going to happen to him?"

"He's going to be sent back, to a slightly more secure ward. Blackmore confessed to murdering Lt King."

"But when I was in there with him, Jack said that _he'd _done it." Tony said, confused,

"He was obviously just trying to protect her. He practically worshipped her."

"Either that or he was afraid of her," Tony pointed out, "She might have done something to him - like the other patients." Gibbs shrugged, thinking things through,

"Maybe. Go to sleep Tony - you need it. I'll be downstairs. Though Abby'll probably have already left." Tony had a guilty look on his face,

"Tell her thanks when you see her. I was a bit of a wimp…" Gibbs chuckled and patted his head before exiting the room,

"I'll see you in the morning."

**I originally thought that this would be the last chapter (Like the previous one lol) but it just wasn't to be :P And I'm so sorry about the wait, and also about the fact that there'll be probably an even longer one between both this one and the other stories, 'cause I'm starting college tomorrow so - lots of work :S Review? xxx**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am SO sorry for the wait :( My life has just been all over the place right now - I didn't think having this much work was possible! Hopefully this chapter (Final one!) makes up for it :)**

**Plus, I kinda stole some lines from 'Good Will Hunting' and 'Donnie Darko' - don't sue me :P You can make a game of finding them if you want :P**

Tony yawned as he plonked himself down at the breakfast table in Gibbs' house. He'd slept so much the last few days he couldn't stand another couple of hours snooze in bed, so he had gotten up when he'd woken up and wandered downstairs - not really surprised when he saw a still warm plate of bacon and eggs was sat at one of the chairs. He grinned as he started to eat it - slowly at first, but soon getting his appetite back.

It was as if what had happened in the past few days was all a bad dream, and he was just waking up. He also felt… well, there was no other word for it - _safe _here. He was remarkably relaxed as he sat in the kitchen of Gibbs' house, and breathed out when the familiar scent of sawdust came up from the hallway… which must mean that Gibbs was just coming up from the basement,

"Boss, do you actually sleep?" He asked, taking a sip of the cup of coffee that had stood next to his plate.

Gibbs merely ignored his question and said, "Don't forget to be ready for that psych appointment today, I don't fancy dragging you there - because I _will _win that battle." Tony sighed, knowing he had a point. The only thing was - he honestly didn't think he needed to go. Not because he was stubborn (Well, that _did _help) but because nothing had happened recently that warranted a visit to a shrink. Okay, the whole asylum thing might have needed something, but he felt fine right now. It was all just like a bad dream.

"Tony." He jerked his head up, blushing when he realised he'd been thinking all this time, completely ignoring what Gibbs had been saying,

"Sorry Boss." He quickly apologised before adding, "Right, sign of weakness, sorr…"

"DiNozzo," Gibbs started, "Shut up and eat."

"Er… I'm already finished Boss…" He looked down at his practically licked clean plate, before grinning wryly at Gibbs.

"Glad to see you've got some appetite back," He remarked, and looked up when the door opened, "I really need to get a lock for that door." He added, as Abby bounced through,

"Hi guys! Tony, how are you?" Tony smiled at her warmly and nodded, pulling her into a hug. She looked confused but happy nevertheless and hugged him back with relish,

"Someone's happy today." She beamed. Tony just chuckled and took a sip from his coffee cup. He burst out laughing as he realised what was in it,

"What?" Abby asked, as Gibbs gave him an odd glance,

"Boss, this has sugar and hazelnut in it," He said to Gibbs, "You don't possess either of those things in your house. Did you buy this and then put it in a mug so I'd think you did make it?"

Abby started to giggle and said, "That's so sweet Gibbs…" She was about to tease him more, but saw his face and decided she didn't want to. He looked like he was trying hard to act calm and as if he didn't care, but she saw the slight hurt in his eyes as Tony laughed. She didn't think that Tony was uncaring, but it was slightly insensitive. Although he probably hadn't seen it.

There was no reason why he shouldn't, she mused, he and Gibbs had a unique bond - more so than she and Gibbs had. What they had wasn't really a bond, more just a father/daughter kind of bond. But what he and Tony had, it was an almost telepathic link. Sure, she joked about having one with Gibbs, and could often get inside his head, but Tony really seemed to get that down to a T. He knew when Gibbs just wanted to be left alone, knew when he wanted to talk. It was vice-versa, and she knew that they could tell what each other was thinking right now,

"Gibbs," She said, veering him away from the subject of coffee, "What time's Tony's appointment again?" She saw Tony scowl and then realised. He hadn't been trying to be funny or insensitive - he'd been trying to steer them to safer ground. Away from psychologists and crazy people, and back to reality.

"Half 10, so DiNozzo had better be ready." Gibbs replied, staring menacingly at Tony.

The younger man glanced down, "Don't you trust me?" He asked, "Is that it? You think I'm going to disobey a direct order and not turn up for that appointment?" Gibbs' stare showed that he was all too aware of what would happen if Tony went there on his own,

"You don't need to be scared Tony," Abby told him cheerfully, "I'll come in with you if you want, and hold your hand." Tony chuckled, before realising she wasn't actually joking.

"Nah thanks Abbs, I'm okay. I'm perfectly capable of going in there on my own."

"Actually," Gibbs said, "A patient deemed dangerous has to be accompanied by another person."

"Did you tell them I was dangerous?" Tony asked, slightly stunned,

"No," Gibbs answered, though the slight upward quirk of his lip showed what he thought of the idea, "They assume everyone is until they've been evaluated after the first session. Sorry there, kid."

Tony slipped further down his seat. Was everyone just completely against him today?

~*~

The trip to the psychologist's office was quiet, considering the amount of people in the car. Ducky had been invited along (More moral support for Gibbs than anything) and Abby and Tony were squashed up in the back. It was Ziva and McGee's day off, but they were more than likely planning to stop by. This thought didn't really agree with Tony, and he became increasingly withdrawn the nearer they got.

Everyone in the car noticed this, but it was just lucky they didn't become anxious. One of the signs of Post-traumatic stress, they had been told, was sullenness, but they all knew better, and that it wasn't anything bad. Abby could tell Tony was angry about being made to go to a psychologists, Ducky picked up on the fact that he was yawning, and so was still tired, and Gibbs…

Gibbs gave him a furtive glance in the mirror every so often, on the pretence of looking out for traffic behind them. He saw the slight pale colour the younger man had turned, and how his leg was jiggling up and down nervously, even with Abby's calming hand on his arm. This wasn't just stubbornness or even anger. This was fear.

Gibbs wondered first of all if maybe his father had done something before that had scared him like this. He knew enough about Tony's past to know it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies, and he wouldn't put it past DiNozzo Sr to send his son to a shrink - God, he probably thought the boy was mad when he expressed a wish to be a cop. Then he shook his head, although that sounded pretty plausible, it was surely just the experiences of Rosewood that were making him so nervous. Getting locked in that spinning box must have been terrifying, and the kid probably thought he'd be sedated as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Are we there yet?" Gibbs had to grin at Abby's childish question,

"Nearly," He answered, "Wake DiNozzo up." Abby looked over to see that Tony had indeed fallen asleep. His head was lolling listlessly and his arms were still folded as they had been from the moment he got into the car.

"Tony," Abby whispered, prodding at his arm, "Wake up. We decided to drive you to a strip club instead." Tony shot awake, the reaction much like Gibbs' when coffee was passed under his nostrils.

When he looked around the car park they had stopped in he shot Abby a dirty look and said, "This isn't a strip club."

She rolled her eyes, "C'mon Tony - d'you really think me, Gibbs and Duckman would go with you to a strip club?" He harrumphed and unwillingly unclipped his seat belt as everyone else did, opening his car door moodily and throwing his arms around himself in order to hug his chest,

"Can't we just go home?" He whined, gazing at the building apprehensively,

"Don't be such a baby," Abby replied, hitting his shoulder, "Come on."

~*~

"So Mr DiNozzo…"

"Agent," Tony corrected her wearily, "Special Agent DiNozzo."

The psychiatrist nodded, "Sorry. Agent DiNozzo - how are you finding things at the moment?"

"Er… fine? And… thing… like?" He wasn't awfully sure what she meant by this, but tried to look away as he sensed rather than saw Gibbs grin at this. He'd promised not to say anything during the session in case he led Tony into saying something he wasn't going to, but he really felt like saying something to get the younger man back on track. Instead, he administered a rather rough head-slap,

"Ow!" He yelled, before looking over at the shrink and making puppy-dog eyes, "You know - my father used to do something very similar to that."

"Really?" Dr Foster (No, that _was _her real name) looked up, before glaring coldly at Gibbs, "How does thinking about it usually make you feel?"

Tony leant back in his chair and breathed out, "Erm…" He said, drawing the word out and repeating it several times before finally answering, "Sad."

"Sad…" Dr Foster repeated,

"Is there an echo in here?" He said, glaring at her, before continuing, "Yeah. I felt sad. Every time the Boss hits me in the most brutal and vicious manner, I feel sad. Jesus lady, come on. I'm fine! I don't need therapy! My father never hit me like that!"

"Did he hit you?" Tony was taken aback at the straight-forward question,

"Erm…" He glanced around, not knowing what to say. One the one hand, he'd love to rant and rave about his father, but in the other, she'd just nod and say something about him still not getting over his past. They did that. All the time. _He_ could be a psychologist; it's not as if they need training. Common sense would do. Instead, he settled for a diversion,

"Who's that?" He asked, pointing to a picture on Dr Foster's desk.

She looked at it and idly traced her finger around the silver frame before answering, "My mother. She died when I was 7."

Tony nodded absent-mindedly, "Same. Well, when I was 5 - but it's still young, isn't it? I mean, losing your mom at that age… How did yours die?"

"She was hit by a car." Dr Foster said softly,

"Mine killed herself," Tony said calmly, "One day she went out the conservatory and saw my Dad… with another woman. She went back into the house, patted me on the head and closed the door. Last time I ever saw her. They locked me in my room when they went to take the body away." Tears were pricking at his eyes as he said this, so he hastily looked down at his lap until he felt safe,

"I bet you started to blame yourself," Dr Foster said, "You were sat there in your room, when you found out what had happened, and you just started thinking, 'What would have happened if I'd gone in there and stopped her?' But you can't Tony. She's gone, and thinking about her now isn't going to help anything."

"You brought her up!" He cried out indignantly, ignoring Gibbs' hand on his shoulder, "You asked me how mine died…"

"Actually," She replied, "You asked me how mine died. Then you talked about yours without any pushing. I think that's what's got you so bothered about everything isn't it?"

Tony snorted, "I'm bothered because I was locked in a box that made me see things!" He yelled, "It made me…"

"See things that you most fear," The doctor interrupted, "It made you see a woman that you, through a hazy mind, saw as your mother. It scared you that you couldn't do anything. Couldn't get out of that box, and you couldn't save her."

"How'd you…?"

"I research. I know a lot about that machine - it fascinates me."

"Well then why don't you get yourself locked in there?" Tony spat angrily,

"Is what I said right?" She asked calmly, glancing at a clock and discreetly jotting something down on a clipboard, "About your mother?"

Tony realised he was between a rock and a hard place. On the one side he had to tell a shrink everything he'd kept up all these years - things he hadn't even told Gibbs. And at the other side, he'd be forever getting little side glanced from Gibbs to make sure he wasn't about to break down suddenly.

"Answer her Tony." Gibbs said gently, his hand still on the younger man's shoulder.

Tony sighed, "Yeah. I saw my mother. And yeah, I sometimes think I could've done something when she died. But that's it. I'm only here because I was sent to an asylum that people think left some sort of scar on me. Sure, I saw my mom in that box, but I know she's not coming back, and I know there wasn't anything I could have done."

"You do know it's not your fault, don't you?" She asked slowly,

"Yeah…" Tony said dully, glancing down at the floor, sighing,

"Tony - it's not your fault."

He looked up and gave a small nod, "I know."

"No. Tony. It's _not _your fault."

"Yeah. I know."

"No, you don't - it's not your fault Tony."

Whatever she was doing, Gibbs thought, it was working. Slowly, little by little, Tony's defences were coming down one by one, and it wasn't long before Gibbs could see tears in his eyes,

"It's not your fault." Dr Foster said a last time, making Tony suddenly break down,

"Don't you… it's not… stop…" His body wracked with sobs, he leant over the only thing close to him - Gibbs. The older man seemed to just take it into his stride, and he turned so that Tony's head was buried in his shoulder. Gibbs pulled his arms up so that they curled around Tony, and he patted the younger man's back as he kept gasping and sobbing.

"Hey," He whispered softly, "It's okay son. It'll be okay. I know how ya feel kid, God knows I do…"

After about ten minutes of this, Tony pulled himself off Gibbs, sniffing hard and rubbing at his eyes furiously,

"You don't need to be ashamed of that," Dr Foster told him, "I think it'll be quite good if in the future you let your guard down a bit more. Cry a little every now and then."

"You gonna be scrutinising that at all our sessions Doc?" Tony asked, his voice thick.

She shook her head, "I was under instructions from a doctor at Rosewood, Clare I think her name was - she said that if I feel you're fine, we don't need any more sessions."

"You think this is fine?" He joked weakly, motioning towards his red eyes and Gibbs' damp patch on his shirt.

Dr Foster smiled benignly, "I think you're going to be fine. But maybe one more session will be good. Then you can choose to stop coming. But I want you to bring someone to these sessions with you. Okay? You can make your next appointment outside. I'll see you then." She smiled at him and shook his hand warmly, before doing the same with Gibbs.

When they walked out, Gibbs kept him in the small corridor for a moment before they went to meet Abby and Ducky so that DiNozzo could dry his eyes some more and wait for a moment so that it didn't look as though he had been crying.

"So Boss," He said, wiping at his eyes, "How's it feel to have a crazy person for an agent?"

Gibbs gave a small, sad smile and chucked his chin slightly, "Wonderful."

~*~

"So Probie, did'ya miss me? And I have to say I was hurt - multiple visits to a shrink and you don't drop by?" Tony leant back in his chair, grinning over as McGee started to splutter. A sharp 'thwack' to the back of his head made him sit up again,

"Don't tease McGee, DiNozzo, he was busy." Gibbs said as he rounded the corner and went to sit down at his desk.

"So…?" Tony said slowly, looking over at him, "How'd it go with Director?"

Tony had been outraged when he'd found out that the Director was refusing to let him come back to work until she got signed documentation that he was fit and healthy - both physical and mental. Dr Foster wouldn't give him any. Even when he'd broken down a _second _time in one of their sessions. She still wasn't sure that he'd 'gotten over' his mother's death, or 'gotten over' his trip to the asylum. He'd even gone to an extra session to try and convince her. That time, he'd declined Gibbs' offer to go with him, and had gone alone. In just Dr Foster's company, he soon started to talk openly. With no chance of being embarrassed with the knowledge that his Boss knew something he didn't particularly want him to know, he'd told her all sorts of things.

How he still sometimes cried over his mother's grave. How his father had once made him go to an asylum. She's been shocked when she'd heard that. Apparently, when Tony was only 7, his father had decided that he must be unhinged as he didn't want to go into the family business. So he told the orderlies in the asylum that his son was still suffering from seeing his mother die. But when little Anthony DiNozzo was tested, it was obvious he was fine - still missing his mum but fine. DiNozzo Sr was outraged when he was sent back, and locked him in a cupboard for a week.

He didn't even ask that food and drink be sent in there. When he was out the terrified maid who was working that day would open the door and feed him. Tony started to cry when telling his doctor this, and finally started to rant that he didn't think it was professional of Gibbs to send him in there. Pleased, Dr Foster signed a document that was to be presented to the Director saying he was fit to work again. However, he had been advised to continue going to the sessions,

"The Director's fine," Gibbs told him, while Ziva and McGee listened eagerly, "She said that as long as you think you're capable to work again, then you can."

"Yes!" Tony whooped, jump up and pumping a fist in the air, "Boss you're amazing, if I ever make you mad again, I'll…"

"Be getting a head-slap." Gibbs finished for him, before the phone on his desk started to ring,

"So Ziva, how worried were you for me in that asylum?" He asked her as he picked his back-pack up - it was obvious they were getting a call about a case.

Ziva sighed, "If you must know - yes, I was quite worried while you were in there. But you are better now, yes?"

Tony found all three of them looking at him in earnest and he grinned easily and brightly. He actually was - there was no lie in this grin, no hidden emotion. He was fine. Talking with Dr Foster had helped, and Gibbs… Gibbs had been an amazing tower of support for him. He'd never thought his Boss would be there for him like that before. Sure, he had his six, but he thought that only existed for work - never outside of it.

"Yeah," He answered, "Yeah. I'm good." He looked over at Gibbs, his eyes searching the older man's.

Gibbs nodded, "Yeah," He said, "Yeah DiNozzo, I reckon you are. Gear up. We've got a dead petty officer in Norfolk. McGee, call Ducky. DiNozzo…"

"Gassing the truck Boss!"

**Was that okay? I know it's been forever, and I had no plan for it either, which sucks. I know it wasn't the best chapter I've ever written - but hopefully you'll still review and/or like it nonetheless :) Thanks for sticking with this story to it's (Slightly crappy) end ^_^ Review? xx**


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